Earthquake Performance of Hagia Sophia

Abstract

Hagia Sophia, during its history, was affected by many earthquakes, resulting in several reconstructions of parts of its main dome and main arches. Being one of the most important buildings of the mankind’s common heritage and given Istanbul’s high seismic risk, the worthiness of the present-day structure in a future major earthquake and what, if any, strengthening interventions will be needed to carry the edifice intact to the future were reviewed. The review encompasses studies conducted on structural and sub-structural assessments, material characterization, linear and nonlinear finite element dynamic analysis, nondestructive structural testing, ambient vibration testing, and the analysis of the strong motion data. The expected earthquake response, possible failure modes, and the retrofit proposals for the improvement of the earthquake performance of Hagia Sophia covered in different studies were comparatively and critically analyzed.