Evaluation of earthquake-related damages on masonry structures due to the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş-Türkiye earthquakes: A case study for Hatay Governorship Building

Abstract

The present study contributes to enriching the sparse literature on the seismic analysis of historical masonry buildings through field observations and advanced computational tools. To do this, the findings from field observations in the area affected by the February 6th, 2023, Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (Mw = 7.7 and Mw = 7.6) are evaluated to point out the possible reasons for damages occurred in masonry buildings. Further, numerical simulations of a historical building in Hatay which has a significant amount of historical masonry building stock in the region. Comparisons of the results obtained from non-linear finite element analyses and field observations are made to explain the crack patterns occurred and damage mechanisms. Nonlinear finite element analyses confirmed that the considered structure did not collapse despite being seriously damaged in the first two earthquakes (Mw = 7.7 and Mw = 7.6), but a part of it completely collapsed because of the third earthquake (Mw = 6.4) on February 20th, 2023, in Defne district. The damage patterns observed in the field are also obtained exactly by the numerical simulations. Some retrofitting proposals are given to assist the authorities in charge of the reconstruction and rehabilitation programs to account for a better interpretation and understanding of the seismic performance of masonry buildings.