Seismic Response of Masonry Buildings in Historical Centres Struck by the 2016 Central Italy Earthquake. Impact of Building Features on Damage Evaluation

ABSTRACT

Masonry buildings in historic centres are prone to seismic damage, due to either construction features or effects of changes over the time. Systematic studies on built heritage need to be updated, aimed at providing large number of data to identify recursive aspects affecting vulnerability and damage. In this study, over 2300 case studies (i.e., structural units/buildings) belonging to 20 villages struck by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake were analysed by a multi-level survey procedure recently upgraded at the University of Padova. The effect of damage was examined with respect to the local macroseismic intensity and computed by comparing the influence of features such as: settlements configuration, buildings aggregation, geometrical and architectural details, horizontal and vertical structural components, and constituent materials. This study lays the groundwork for new approaches to the analysis of construction parameters of existing masonry buildings, in view of their typological categorization and validation on a statistical base.

KEYWORDS:

• Historic centre
• macroseismic intensity
• masonry building
• onsite investigation
• rapid visual screening
• seismic damage

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank C. Bernardinello, S. Coppo, M. Fabris, V. Follador, F. Molinari and M. Vettore for their help during the surveys. The Private Works Office of the district of Macerata, the Municipalities of Arquata del Tronto, Acquasanta Terme, Camerino, Castelsantangelo sul Nera, Muccia, Pievebovigliana and Pieve Torina are also acknowledged.

Photography credits: F. Molinari, Y. Saretta, L. Sbrogiò and M. Vettore.

Credits statement

Conceptualization and Methodology: MRV, LS, YS; Formal analysis and Data Curation: LS, YS; Writing - Original Draft: MRV, LS, YS; Writing - Review and Editing: MRV, YS; Supervision, Project administration and Funding acquisition: MRV, HW.

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project is framed within the 2019-2021 DPC-ReLUIS Project (Italian Civil Protection Department - Laboratories University Network of Seismic Engineering) with the financial support of the China-Italy International Research Centre for Protection of Historical Architectures and Cultural Relics (CIPAR), Guangzhou University.