Financial risk evaluation of non-ductile reinforced concrete buildings in eastern and western Canada

Abstract

Financial risks due to catastrophic earthquakes can be severe. This is particularly applicable to existing buildings that were constructed prior to modern seismic hazard maps and seismic design provisions. Pre-1970 non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings in Canada are of typical examples, where design base shear coefficients were essentially the same across the country, despite very diverse seismic hazards in the east and the west. This study implements a comprehensive performance-based earthquake engineering methodology to evaluate the financial risks of non-ductile RC frame buildings with different numbers of stories for seismicity in Montreal and Victoria. In addition to seismic loss curves that consider a comprehensive event set of regional seismicity, conditional loss distributions for critical scenarios are developed. The results of the financial risk evaluations for the buildings strongly indicate the effects of regional seismicity are significant and overall seismic risks for buildings in Victoria are greater than those in Montreal. Nevertheless, seismic vulnerability of these buildings remains to be high for both locations, meaning that should a major earthquake strike near the location, the buildings studied will suffer major damage. The results from the detailed risk assessments are also useful for developing effective financial risk mitigation strategies through earthquake insurance.