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Following the M=6.4 earthquake that hit Durres in Albania on 26.11.2019, at the request of the Government of the Republic of Albania to the Government of R.N. Macedonia, in coordination with the deputy Prime Minister of the Government of R. N. Macedonia and the Director of the Bureau for Forensic Expertise of the R. N. Macedonia as operational coordinator, teams of experts were established for assistance and support to the local teams in rapid assessment on the structural safety of damaged buildings in the most affected areas. The Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology -IZIIS (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje) was leading the Macedonian mission with four teams composed of 11 experts. Most of the structures that were the subject of inspection were residential, mainly constructed as reinforced concrete structure and flat-slab systems prior the year 2000. Most of these structures suffered major nonstructural damage with negligible structural damages and extensive repairable structural damages. The cause of incurred damages was inconsistent application of recent knowledge in design, construction, and control of earthquake resistant structures. In order to define corresponding technical solutions for repair and strengthening, especially for the vital structures, it is necessary to take additional measures as detailed engineering inspection and science-based analysis.

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The historic building of “Sokolski dom” in Kumanovo belongs to the plain masonry type of buildings. Built in the thirties of the last century for the needs of the “Sokolski Society”, this building was once the main impetus for enrichment of cultural, entertainment and sports life, enabling the proper development of many generations. Due to its significance it was put under the protection as cultural-historic heritage in the country. The subject of this paper is a detailed analysis of the stability of existing structure, which proved the need for its repair and seismic upgrading. With detailed analysis of the bearing and deformation capacity it was determined that the existing structure does not meet the requirements according to the national regulations. Therefore, the need for repair and strengthening was imposed, with the main goal of ensuring seismic stability of the building. Considering the possibilities and certain limitation for structural interventions from one hand, and the required bearing and deformation characteristics of the elements and the structure as whole from other hand, a traditional solution for strengthening was adopted, by reinforced concrete jackets and horizontal belt course. This technical solution provides increase of the structural bearing and deformation capacity of the system, as well as its ductility capacity, which is especially important for this type of buildings in case of seismic excitations. By increasing the deformation capacity, the input energy in the system would be consumed, which would greatly increase the seismic safety and security of the building.

The unexpected misbehavior of buildings during the recent frequent earthquakes in Mediterranean region resulted in significant loss of human lives, injuries and economic losses due to the poor capacity of their structural systems and built-in materials to sustain seismic load. Among the lessons learned from recent earthquake in southeastern Europe is that identifying existing buildings' vulnerability and thus reconsidering and improving their seismic safety, should become one of the top priorities for both, state and local government in seismic prone regions.