Estimation of the Buildings Seismic Vulnerability: A Methodological Proposal for Planning Ante-Earthquake Scenarios in Urban Areas

Abstract

Featured Application: Geographic Information System (GIS) estimation of ante-earthquake scenarios through a more functional and standardized method of seismic vulnerability evaluation of reinforced concrete buildings in urban areas. Abstract:In spite of the enhancements related to building construction, many regions still present a major level of seismic risk as a consequence of the high vulnerability of the urban configuration of their cities. An improved method to assess the seismic vulnerability of buildings in urban areas is proposed in this contribution in order to advance the management of seismic emergency scenarios. The methodology, mainly based on the cadastral database, allows for a more standardized implementation as a function on the typological, structural, and urban parameters of the buildings, reducing the level of uncertainties linked to these methodologies and giving continuity to the different RISK-UE published works. The generalization of the method to any urban area has also been improved by means of removing the parameters whose calibration is associated with a specific area. The methodology has been put into practice in the urban area of the city of Lorca (SE Spain), in the aftermath of the earthquake of 11 May 2011, due to the availability of well-documented data reported from this seismic event. The proposal, when it is combined with Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, provides valuable information for the planning and management of post-earthquake emergency situations.

The Spatial Perspective in Post-Earthquake Evaluation to Improve Mitigation Strategies: Geostatistical Analysis of the Seismic Damage Applied to a Real Case Study

“…The results clearly refute certain statements made in some media in the first days after the earthquake regarding the possibility that the most damaged buildings were those which were older as a result of their misalignment with current seismic standards. This result is congruent with similar situations in previous work [11,12,16]. In this context, the geostatistical analysis has proved to be a rather interesting approach to carry out a detailed, objective, and multidisciplinary aftershock evaluation for building damage at a large scale in a city.…”

“…On the one hand, the number of buildings whose separation did not meet the levels of separation of seismic joints required in previous work [17] has been evaluated discretely. On the other hand, the streets and buildings whose slopes and orographic and geometrical conditions violate some of the urbanistic recommendations established have been evaluated at a spatial level in previous work [6,9,11,12]. The spatial intensity value of the aggregate mean value of both parameters has been modeled with the ArcGIS density geo-process.…”

“…On many occasions, this situation requires addressing clearly multidisciplinary problems, such as the forensic analysis of building damage levels resulting from the earthquake in the whole city, using approaches subjected to the limitations of each field of knowledge [7]. Some methodological perspectives are able to combine two or even three different disciplines in a single analysis to find possible correlations among them (soil-structure interaction [8], building design combined with seismology [9], building design combined with material resistance [10], building design combined with seismology and urban configuration [11], etc.). However, we can rarely find a post-earthquake forensic analysis capable of responding comprehensively to all of the effects observed in a city in the aftermath of an earthquake.…”

“…In this article, the geostatistical approach will be put into practice with the assessment of the Lorca earthquake that occurred in Lorca, Spain, on May 11, 2011. This earthquake has been analyzed from different points of view in recent years [11], giving answers to questions such as the influence of the geology of the area on the earthquake [14], the impact of the shallow focal depth [15], or the effect of some factors related to the configuration of the urban plot and building design [16]. This situation has given rise to numerous theories regarding the causes of the major damage from the earthquake, although none of these theories has enabled the development of a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy in the city.…”

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment in Ranau, Sabah, Using Two Different Models

“…The existence of buildings is signaling the existence of population in the area and are directly related to potential human and economic damage in case of an earthquake episode. A high number of seismic activities that occurred near the settlement area indicate how highly the community in the study area is exposed to seismic vulnerability [77,78].…”