Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Historic Constructions in the Downtown of Mexico City

Abstract

Seismic risk is determined by the sum of multiple components produced by a certain seismic intensity, being represented by the seismic hazard, the structural vulnerability and the exposure of assets at a specified zone. Most of the methods and strategies applied to evaluate the vulnerability of historic constructions are specialized in buildings with higher importance, either public or private, by relegating ordinary dwellings to a second plane. On account of this, this paper aims to present a seismic vulnerability assessment, considering a limited urban area of the Historic Downtown of Mexico City (La Merced Neighborhood), thus showing the analysis of 166 historic buildings. The seismic vulnerability assessment of the area was performed resorting to a simplified seismic vulnerability assessment method, composed of both qualitative and quantitative parameters. To better manage and analyze the human and economic exposure, the results were integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, which allowed to map vulnerability and damage scenarios for different earthquake intensities.

Preservation of Villages in Central Italy: Geomatic Techniques’ Integration and GIS Strategies for the Post-Earthquake Assessment

“…An interested reader can find similar experiments in [28], where the authors defined a cross-mapping about vulnerability, damage scenarios and buildings exposure based on a multi-level procedure for earthquake disaster prevention. The same approach was adopted by Salazar and Ferreira which confirmed the multiple components of seismic risk to be managed within the GIS tool [29]. GIS platform is also suitable and useful for planning safety interventions and optimal routes for the accessibility of a certain area; the main novelty in this case was the assignment of priorities [30].…”

Planning for More Resilient and Safer Cities: A New Methodology for Seismic Risk Assessment at the Urban Scale, Applied to a Case Study in Italy

“…This assessment is based on the assumption that a strict correlation exists between the construction period, structural type, and possible damage mechanisms that may be activated when an earthquake occurs [43]. Therefore, this methodology adopts the approach of defining building typologies, which is considered highly useful in assessing seismic risk [35,44]. Consequently, existing buildings are clustered into a limited number of categories, and sample buildings are used to perform rapid and approximate, but reliable, physical seismic vulnerability assessments to be referred to larger portions of urban areas.…”

Assessing and Managing Risk in Historic Urban Areas: Current Trends and Future Research Directions

“…Historic Urban Areas are particularly challenging contexts with different building typologies (often divergent) coexisting in the same space, which significantly limits the resource to any general assumption or generalisation. Nevertheless, the definition of building typologies is not only possible but highly useful in the context of risk assessment, as discussed by Santos et al (2013) and Salazar and Ferreira (2020). In what regards to masonry buildings, which is the most recurring structural system in Historic Urban areas (Roca et al, 2010), the adoption of masonry-oriented simplified strategies for approaching the historic city has become common.…”