Ground shaking scenarios at the town of Vicoforte,Italy

Vicoforte is a small town in Northern Italy, which hosts a Cathedral with the world's largest elliptical dome. The name of the Basilica is “Regina Montis Regalis” and it is of extraordinary architectural and structural importance. The main objective of this study is the definition of the seismic hazard at the site of Vicoforte following a deterministic approach. Although Vicoforte is located in an area of moderate seismicity, the calculation of the most unfavourable seismic ground shaking scenarios is of great interest due to the importance of the Basilica and its vulnerability to even a moderate seismic excitation.The closest active faults to Vicoforte were identified in order to simulate the potentially most severe ground shaking scenarios compatibly with the tectonic and seismic setting of the region. Subsequently, numerical simulations were conducted through finite faults numerical models using two different approaches: the extended kinematic source model of Hisada and Bielak [24] and the stochastic method of Motazedian and Atkinson [38]. They, respectively, simulate the low and high frequency ranges of predicted ground motion. The numerical models used for the simulations were calibrated by a comparison between synthetic results and recorded data. A parametric study was finally carried out to identify the most critical fault rupture mechanisms.     

Analysis of the impact of large scale seismic retrofitting strategies through the application of a vulnerability-based approach on traditional masonry buildings

The buildings’ capacity to maintain minimum structural safety levels during natural disasters, such as earthquakes, is recognisably one of the aspects that most influence urban resilience. Moreover, the public investment in risk mitigation strategies is fundamental, not only to promote social and urban and resilience, but also to limit consequent material, human and environmental losses. Despite the growing awareness of this issue, there is still a vast number of traditional masonry buildings spread throughout many European old city centres that lacks of adequate seismic resistance, requiring therefore urgent retrofitting interventions in order to both reduce their seismic vulnerability and to cope with the increased seismic requirements of recent code standards. Thus, this paper aims at contributing to mitigate the social and economic impacts of earthquake damage scenarios through the development of vulnerability-based comparative analysis of some of the most popular retrofitting techniques applied after the 1998 Azores earthquake. The influence of each technique individually and globally studied resorting to a seismic vulnerability index methodology integrated into a GIS tool and damage and loss scenarios are constructed and critically discussed. Finally, the economic balance resulting from the implementation of that techniques are also examined.     

Vulnerability and risk analysis of monuments in Málaga city’s historical centre (Southern Spain)

A vulnerability analysis of some historical and monumental buildings in the city of Málaga is presented in this paper. More than twenty of these monuments were severely damaged or completely destroyed due to the large earthquake (I _max = VIII–IX) occurred in the Málaga region in October 1680. The vulnerability index methodology has been used in this paper. This technique is based on statistical data from seismic damage caused to Italian monuments for the past 30?years. For each building, vulnerability curves have been obtained and damage grades have been estimated. A comparison has been carried out between the expected damage grades and the damage observed from past earthquakes, in order to check the feasibility of applying this methodology to Spanish monuments. This comparison has been possible due to the fact that detailed seismic damage information exists for monuments in the city of Málaga that still exist today, which is a very uncommon case in Spain. Results show a good consistency between expected and observed damage, especially for the churches type. Two seismic scenarios have been proposed for the city centre, one deterministic and one probabilistic, where 54 historical and modern buildings have been analyzed. Both scenarios show worrying results, especially for the types of churches, chapels and towers, where expected high probabilities of suffering very heavy damage or even collapse have been obtained. It is highly recommended to take the necessary measures, in the hope of trying to avoid the possible damage that can be expected from future earthquakes.     

The seismic history of Catania

A detailed study of the most significant seismic effects that took place in the city of Catania has been performed in order to build up a site catalogue, to assess seismic hazard directly from it and to provide the picture of damage scenarios which happened in the past. In the last 1000 years Catania was destroyed twice (1169 and 1693) and more or less severely damaged twelve times (e.g., 1542, 1818, 1848, etc.). Destruction or severe damage are mainly related to earthquakes occurring in the coastal sector of the Hyblean foreland, while slighter, moderate effects are usually due to earthquakes taking place in the seismogenic sources of the Messina Straits and in the inner Hyblean region. The analysis of the historical reports allowed to delineate the damage scenarios of the most relevant events. In particular, for the 1693 case-history it has also been possible to map the damage distribution with reference to the existing urban settlement of the city. The site catalogue was used for assessing seismic hazard; the obtained estimates show that the probability of occurrence for intensity 7 and 10 exceeds 99.9% for 150 and 500 years, respectively. These values, associated with the high vulnerability caused by the city growth which occurred mainly before the introduction of the seismic code (1981) and without ad-hoc planning policies, implies that the urban system is exposed to high seismic risk.     

四川省房屋建筑易损性研究

研究房屋建筑易损性特征是防震减灾工作必不可少的环节之一，本文通过对多年工作的系统总结，得出四川省不同地区的房屋建筑易损性矩阵，全省房屋建筑抗震性能总体水平不高，这是造成地震灾害加重的主要原因之一，随着经济发展实力的提高，适当提高全省房屋建筑抗震设防水平可大大减轻特别是中强地震所造成的经济损失。     

Enhancing resilience of highway bridges through seismic retrofit

The present study evaluates seismic resilience of highway bridges that are important components of highway transportation systems. To mitigate losses incurred from bridge damage during seismic events, bridge retrofit strategies are selected such that the retrofit not only enhances bridge seismic performance but also improves resilience of the system consisting of these bridges. To obtain results specific to a bridge, a reinforced concrete bridge in the Los Angeles region is analyzed. This bridge was severely damaged during the Northridge earthquake because of shear failure of one bridge pier. Seismic vulnerability model of the bridge is developed through finite element analysis under a suite of time histories that represent regional seismic hazard. Obtained bridge vulnerability model is combined with appropriate loss and recovery models to calculate seismic resilience of the bridge. Impact of retrofit on seismic resilience is observed by applying suitable retrofit strategy to the bridge assuming its undamaged condition prior to the Northridge event. Difference in resilience observed before and after bridge retrofit signified the effectiveness of seismic retrofit. The applied retrofit technique is also found to be cost‐effective through a cost‐benefit analysis. First order second moment reliability analysis is performed, and a tornado diagram is developed to identify major uncertain input parameters to which seismic resilience is most sensitive. Statistical analysis of resilience obtained through random sampling of major uncertain input parameters revealed that the uncertain nature of seismic resilience can be characterized with a normal distribution, the standard deviation of which represents the uncertainty in seismic resilience. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An operational-oriented approach to the assessment of low probability seismic ground motions for critical infrastructures

Extreme natural hazard events have the potential to cause significant disruption to critical infrastructure (CI) networks. Among them, earthquakes represent a major threat as sudden-onset events with limited, if any, capability of forecast, and high damage potential. In recent years, the increased exposure of interdependent systems has heightened concern, motivating the need for a framework for the management of these increased hazards. The seismic performance level and resilience of existing non-nuclear CIs can be analyzed by identifying the ground motion input values leading to failure of selected key elements. Main interest focuses on the ground motions exceeding the original design values, which should correspond to low probability occurrence. A seismic hazard methodology has been specifically developed to consider low-probability ground motions affecting elongated CI networks. The approach is based on Monte Carlo simulation, which allows for building long-duration synthetic earthquake catalogs to derive low-probability amplitudes. This approach does not affect the mean hazard values and allows obtaining a representation of maximum amplitudes that follow a general extreme-value distribution. This facilitates the analysis of the occurrence of extremes, i.e., very low probability of exceedance from unlikely combinations, for the development of, e.g., stress tests, among other applications. Following this methodology, extreme ground-motion scenarios have been developed for selected combinations of modeling inputs including seismic activity models (source model and magnitude-recurrence relationship), ground motion prediction equations (GMPE), hazard levels, and fractiles of extreme ground motion. The different results provide an overview of the effects of different hazard modeling inputs on the generated extreme motion hazard scenarios. This approach to seismic hazard is at the core of the risk analysis procedure developed and applied to European CI transport networks within the framework of the European-funded INFRARISK project. Such an operational seismic hazard framework can be used to provide insight in a timely manner to make informed risk management or regulating further decisions on the required level of detail or on the adoption of measures, the cost of which can be balanced against the benefits of the measures in question.     

松原地区群体建筑结构地震响应及抗震韧性分析

近年来吉林省松原地区破坏性地震频发,十分必要对当地群体建筑结构的抗震韧性进行分析。对吉林省松原地区的群体建筑结构进行地震响应分析以及抗震韧性评估,对比分析城市和乡镇群体建筑结构在地震作用下的地震响应和抗震韧性。根据《建筑抗震韧性评价标准(GBT 38591—2020)》确定群体建筑结构抗震韧性评估流程,通过韧性指数法和韧性等级法对群体建筑结构的抗震韧性进行定量分析,对城乡抗震韧性的评价结果为当地防震减灾提供理论支持。     

Seismic damage evaluation in urban areas using the capacity spectrum method: Application to Barcelona

Conceptual aspects related to seismic vulnerability, damage and risk evaluation are discussed first, together with a short review of the most widely used possibilities for seismic evaluation of structures. The capacity spectrum method and the way of obtaining seismic damage scenarios for urban areas starting from capacity and fragility curves are then discussed. The determination of capacity curves for buildings using non-linear structural analysis tools is then explained, together with a simplified expeditious procedure allowing the development of fragility curves. The seismic risk of the buildings of Barcelona, Spain, is analyzed in the paper, based on the application of the capacity spectrum method. The seismic hazard in the area of the city is described by means of the reduced 5% damped elastic response spectrum. The information on the buildings was obtained by collecting, arranging, improving and completing a broad database of the dwellings and current buildings. The buildings existing in Barcelona are mainly of two types: unreinforced masonry structures and reinforced concrete buildings with waffled-slab floors. The ArcView software was used to create a GIS tool for managing the collected information in order to develop seismic risk scenarios. This study shows that the vulnerability of the buildings is significant in Barcelona and, therefore, in spite of the low-to-moderate seismic hazard in the region, the expected seismic risk is considerable.     

A GIS-Based GOD Model and Hazard Index Analysis: The Quaternary Coastal Collo Aquifer (NE-Algeria)

The quaternary coastal Collo aquifer in northeast Algeria (NE Algeria) marks an important local water resource supporting domestic, industrial and agricultural activities. The aquifer shows signs of contamination due to the existence of various pollution sources, especially nitrogen compounds. Focusing the local identification of key vulnerable zones and related main hazard types for wise future water management, the present study highlights results from a coupled analysis of the well-established Geographical Information System (GIS)-based GOD (groundwater occurrence, overall aquifer class, depth to groundwater) hazard index analysis and the COST Action 620 plan. Most prevalent hazard types in the study area were identified as the urban/residential areas without public sewage systems, landfill and agricultural/pasturing areas. Regarding the vulnerability analysis particularly the northern aquifer region is endangered, dominated by high (22.4%) and moderate (27.4%) vulnerability classes. Central, western and southern aquifer regions are characterized by low (23.3%) and very low (26.9%) vulnerability classes. Overall, these GOD-derived results are in good agreement with earlier results obtained by the more complex DRASTIC approach. Final risk assessment and validation related to 2014/2015 nitrate sampling campaigns indicate that “high risk” and “very high risk” classes only apply to a small part of the study area in the northern sector (8%), whereas the main part (>60%) broadly affecting the central, western and southern sector only bears a low to very low risk of water pollution. Apart from a future-oriented groundwater abstraction strategy it is recommended to update the evaluation regularly to effectively consider dynamic changes of local anthropogenic activities and hazards.     

A methodology for defining seismic scenario‐structure‐based limit state criteria for rc high‐rise wall buildings using net drift

As a result of population growth and consequent urbanization, the number of high‐rise buildings is rapidly growing worldwide resulting in increased exposure to multiple‐scenario earthquakes and associated risk. The wide range in frequency contents of possible strong ground motions can have an impact on the seismic response, vulnerability and limit states definitions of RC high‐rise wall structures. Motivated by the pressing need to derive more accurate fragility relations to be used in seismic risk assessment and mitigation of such structures, a methodology is proposed to obtain reliable, Seismic Scenario‐Structure‐Based (SSSB) definitions of limit state criteria. A 30‐story wall building, located in a multi‐seismic scenario study region, is utilized to illustrate the methodology. The building is designed following modern codes and then modeled using nonlinear fiber‐based approach. Uncertainty in ground motions is accounted for by the selection of forty real earthquake records representing two seismic scenarios. Seismic scenario‐based building local response at increasing earthquake intensities is mapped using Multi‐Record Incremental Dynamic Analyses (MRIDAs) with a new scalar intensity measure. Net Inter‐Story Drift (NISD) is selected as a global damage measure based on a parametric study involving seven buildings ranging from 20 to 50 stories. This damage measure is used to link local damage events, including shear, to global response under different seismic scenarios. While the study concludes by proposing SSSB limit state criteria for the sample building, the proposed methodology arrives at a reliable definition of limit state criteria for an inventory of RC high‐rise wall buildings under multiple earthquake scenarios. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing Seismic Damage Through Stochastic Simulation of Ground Shaking: The Case of the 1998 Faial Earthquake (Azores Islands)

In July 1998, an M _w = 6.2 earthquake struck the islands of Faial, Pico and San Jorge (in the Azores Archipelago), registering VIII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale and causing major destruction in the northeastern part of Faial. The main shock was located offshore, 8 km North East of the island, and it triggered a seismic sequence that lasted for several weeks. The existing data for this earthquake include both the general tectonic environment of the region and the teleseismic information. This is accompanied by one strong-motion record obtained 15 km from the epicentre, the epicentre location of aftershocks, and a large collection of the damage inflicted to the building stock (as poor rubble masonry, of 2–3 storeys). The present study was carried out in two steps: first, with a finite-fault stochastic simulation method of ground motion at sites throughout the affected islands, for two possible locations of the rupturing fault and for a large number of combinations of rupture mechanisms (as a parametric analysis); secondly, the damage to buildings was modelled using a well-known macroseismic method that considers the building typologies and their associated vulnerabilities. The main intent was to integrate different data (geological, seismological and building features) to produce a scenario model to reproduce and justify the level of damage generated during the Faial earthquake. Finally, through validation of the results provided by these different approaches, we obtained a complete procedure for the parameters of a first model for the production of seismic damage scenarios for the Azores Islands region.     

Vulnerability assessment of reinforced concrete bridge structures in Algiers using scenario earthquakes

Algeria has an inheritance of more than 11,000 bridges, with approximately 5,000 road bridges of which more than 30 % have a high probability to be exposed to major earthquakes and serious damages in the future. Therefore, it is of great importance to retrofit the existing bridges and assess their seismic vulnerability and set a permanent monitoring survey to follow the change of their dynamic characteristics such as natural frequency and modal damping. The assessment of the seismic vulnerability of existing RC bridges was carried out based on the consistent and complete post earthquake survey after the Boumerdes earthquake. The information on the damaged existing RC bridges was investigated and evaluated by the authors. This paper presents a simple and efficient inspection method for the preliminary evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of existing bridge structures. To assess the seismic damage of 148 existing bridges, two seismic scenarios were carried out using “Khair al Din” and the “Zemmouri” faults that are capable to generate earthquakes with a maximum acceleration of 0.8g. The main findings of this study are summarized in this paper.     

川南地区砖混结构房屋典型震害及地震易损性研究

以川南地区为研究区,并以在建造方式上具有明显当地地域特征的砖混结构房屋为研究对象,结合砖混结构房屋建造特点及川南历史地震(如长宁6.0级地震)震害调查结果等,分析砖混结构房屋典型震害特征,统计其在不同烈度下不同破坏等级的比例,采用经验分析法得到初步的易损性矩阵。在此基础上,针对因样本局限性造成的结构在高烈度下破坏比例不全,使实际易损性矩阵缺失的问题,通过插值法,推算高烈度下的破坏比例,补全经验易损性矩阵,拟合出易损性曲线,建立以震害统计为主、数值模拟为辅的砖混结构易损性分析模型;并基于平均震害指数对比分析,对易损性分析的可靠性进行检验。结果表明,构建的易损性矩阵能客观反映川南地区砖混结构房屋的抗震能力,对开展震害预测、灾害损失评估及震害风险评估等工作具有实际应用价值。     

Centrifuge modeling of loose fill embankment subjected to uni-axial and bi-axial earthquakes

The seismic risk is fairly high in Hong Kong even though it is located in an intreplate area with low to moderate seismicity. This is because of its high seismic vulnerability due to the presence of many steep loose fill slopes with a marginal static factor of safety, and a high consequence ‘value’ as a result of the dense population and intense economic activity in Hong Kong. In order to investigate the seismic stability and potential flow liquefaction of loose fill slopes, dynamic centrifuge tests in uni-axial and bi-axial directions were performed on saturated model embankments made of loose completely decomposed granite (CDG). Three windowed sinusoidal waves with peak shaking amplitudes ranging from 0.08 g to 0.3 g (prototype scale) were adopted. During the strong uni-axial shaking of 0.3 g, the measured maximum excess pore pressure ratios ranged from 0.70 to 0.85 and a relatively small crest settlement of 5.8 mm (0.22 m prototype) was measured. No soil liquefaction or flow slides were observed. Comparing the results between the strong uni-axial and bi-axial shaking, the maximum pore pressure ratios measured from the bi-axial test varied from 0.75 to 0.87, which were marginally larger than those obtained from the uni-axial test. Although the measured crest settlement during the bi-axial shaking was about 27% larger than that of the uni-axial test, soil liquefaction and flow slide did not occur. These test results suggest that loose CDG fill slopes are likely to be stable under the proposed design PGA ranging from 0.08 to 0.11 g in Hong Kong.     

Damage assessment of fortresses after the 2012 Emilia earthquake (Italy)

The medieval fortresses are a very common and distinctive type among the Emilian historical constructions and the earthquake of May 20 and 29, 2012 highlighted their high vulnerability. Starting from the analysis of the geometrical and constructive features, the interpretation of their seismic vulnerability has been based on an accurate damage assessment and supported by the numerical results of typical configurations. An abacus of recurring seismic damage mechanisms in fortresses has been proposed: it in particular concerns the towers and their interaction with the fortress perimeter walls. Moreover, the seismic response of the most important fortresses in the epicentral area has been described referring to their historical notes, the recent interventions and their influence on the seismic damage.     

单体建筑无筋砌体加固体系的抗震韧性研究

单体建筑无筋砌体结构的抗震韧性较差,在地震中容易发生严重破坏和倒塌。为此,以抗震韧性为参数指标,对单体无筋砌体结构进行加固并分析,研究其在地震作用下的抗震能力。以某实际工程作为研究对象,运用ANSYS软件建立单体建筑无筋砌体加固有限元模型,选取中国汶川地震波、日本阪神大地震波、美国克恩县地震波、中国台湾集集地震波及人工地震波作为地震动输入,利用韧性指数法和韧性等级法,从无筋砌体加固体系在震后的修复费用、修复时间及人员伤亡等方面进行分析,得到抗震韧性评估结果。研究表明：(1)在罕遇地震、设防地震和多遇地震的情况下,单体建筑无筋砌体结构的层间位移、层间剪应力、破坏程度均大于单体建筑无筋砌体加固体系;(2)在受到地震强弱因素影响下,无筋砌体结构的抗震韧性指数最高为0.877,而其加固体系的抗震韧性指数最低为0.908;(3)在经历不同地震波后,无筋砌体结构受到较大损害等级占比较高,人员伤亡较重,需要花费较长的时间和较多的费用完成灾后重建;而经过加固后的无筋砌体结构,加固体系受到较小损害等级占比较高,人员伤亡较轻,且能够用较短的时间和较少的费用完成灾后重建。     

钢筋混凝土桥梁地震易损性评估模型设计

桥梁作为交通中不可或缺的一部分,对其地震易损性进行研究具有现实意义。针对当前桥梁地震易损性分析方法存在准确性待提升的问题,提出基于模糊评定的钢筋混凝土桥梁地震易损性评估模型。以桥梁结构层次、材料层次及边界层几方面为主对桥梁评估过程中的不确定性参数进行分析。以分析结果为依据,考虑到桥梁损失是一个比较模糊的概念,引入模糊数学中的模糊评定方法对桥梁地震易损性进行评估。融合位移下桥梁支座损伤分析、能量下桥墩损伤分析、周期下桥梁结构整体损伤分析,构建可以反映钢筋混凝土桥梁由局部到整体的多层次模糊易损性评估模型。通过实验对所建模型进行验证,结果显示：在纵向只发生轻微破坏,且轻微破坏的概率较小,基本处于完好状态。而在横向,发生轻微破坏的概率较大,甚至还可能发生中等破坏。在地震作用下,桥梁破坏也基本以轻微破坏和中等破坏为主,严重破坏的概率很小。     

A probabilistic approach for the prediction of seismic resilience of bridges

This paper proposes a probabilistic approach for the pre‐event assessment of seismic resilience of bridges, including uncertainties associated with expected damage, restoration process, and rebuilding/rehabilitation costs. A fragility analysis performs the probabilistic evaluation of the level of damage (none, slight, moderate, extensive, and complete) induced on bridges by a seismic event. Then, a probabilistic six‐parameter sinusoidal‐based function describes the bridge functionality over time. Depending on the level of regional seismic hazard, the level of performance that decision makers plan to achieve, the allowable economic impact, and the available budget for post‐event rehabilitation activities, a wide spectrum of scenarios are provided. Possible restoration strategies accounting for the desired level of resilience and direct and indirect costs are investigated by performing a Monte Carlo simulation based on Latin hypercube sampling. Sensitivity analyses show how the recovery parameters affect the resilience assessment and seismic impact. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to an existing highway bridge located along a segment of I‐15, between the cities of Corona and Murrieta, in California. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.