Abstract
Seismic risk is determined by the sum of multiple components produced by a certain seismic intensity, being represented by the seismic hazard, the structural vulnerability and the exposure of assets at a specified zone. Most of the methods and strategies applied to evaluate the vulnerability of historic constructions are specialized in buildings with higher importance, either public or private, by relegating ordinary dwellings to a second plane. On account of this, this paper aims to present a seismic vulnerability assessment, considering a limited urban area of the Historic Downtown of Mexico City (La Merced Neighborhood), thus showing the analysis of 166 historic buildings. The seismic vulnerability assessment of the area was performed resorting to a simplified seismic vulnerability assessment method, composed of both qualitative and quantitative parameters. To better manage and analyze the human and economic exposure, the results were integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, which allowed to map vulnerability and damage scenarios for different earthquake intensities.
Highlights
While seismic hazard involves the probability of occurrence of a seismic event [1], which can be represented by an exposure model [2], seismic vulnerability can be defined as the intrinsic predisposition of an element to suffer damage from a seismic event of a given intensity
The vulnerability assessment is performed adopting a typological-based procedure which consists of a pre-assessment of the seismic vulnerability of each one of the typologies identified in Section 3, through the assessment of eight specific vulnerability assessment parameters (P1, P2, P4, P5, P8, P9, P11 and P12), which, as can be seen in Table 2, focus on the structural characteristics of the buildings (Group 1), on their irregularities and the interaction between adjacent buildings (Group 2) and the characteristics of their floor slabs and roof (Group 3), see Table 4
The vulnerability assessment method was applied to 166 historical buildings, resulting in a mean value of the seismic vulnerability index (Ivcc) of 45.91
Summary
While seismic hazard involves the probability of occurrence of a seismic event [1], which can be represented by an exposure model [2], seismic vulnerability can be defined as the intrinsic predisposition of an element to suffer damage from a seismic event of a given intensity. Aimed at contributing to this discussion, a pilot area of the Mexico City Downtown is comprehensively investigated by analyzing and intercrossing its historical seismicity with the most relevant architectural, construction and structural features of the buildings. For this purpose, a matrix of thirty-six typologies of residential and historical buildings was assessed, resorting to a simplified seismic vulnerability assessment. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tools play an essential role in the establishment of urban management, civil protection, and risk disaster strategies For that reason, this analysis was established by mapping and discussing all outputs through the free and open-source software QGIS ver. As discussed in this paper, among many other relevant outputs, such a tool would allow for the definition of specific targets aimed at supporting the preservation of the cultural value of this heritage and to prevent (or at least to mitigate) economic or human losses in the case of a future earthquake event
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