Seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete structures affected by the 2008 wenchuan earthquake

Abstract

A total of 116 reinforced concrete building structures were surveyed after the earthquake that devastated Wenchuan, China, in 2008. Original construction drawings were obtained for all these buildings. The buildings were ranked according to the degree of damage caused by the ground motion. Two different methods were used to define degree of damage. In both cases, strong correlation was found between the frequency of damage and a vulnerability index proposed by Hassan and Sozen. The index was first calibrated using data from Turkey and it was later tested by O’Brien et al. using data from Haiti. The observed correlation confirms that the index can be used effectively to prioritize resources for building strengthening.