Assessment of the seismic vulnerability of unreinforced masonry buildings

A methodology for seismic vulnerability analysis of URM buildings is presented. It includes the estimation of capacity curves for typical building classes, as well as vulnerability (fragility) curves in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA). The methodology for developing vulnerability curves is based on a hybrid approach, combining statistical data with appropriately processed results from nonlinear static analyses that permit extrapolation of statistical data to intensities for which no data are available. The data used are statistical, derived from Greek earthquakes, the Thessaloniki 1978 and the Aegion 1995 events, with some additional data from the Pyrgos 1993 earthquake used for comparison purposes. The databases of the first two earthquakes are briefly presented and processed using a filtering technique. The resulting hybrid vulnerability curves correlate PGA to the probability that a building type exceeds a particular damage state.