Effects of Earthquakes on Buildings in the Ibero-Maghrebian Region

The types of damage caused by earthquakes in buildings are closely related to the design and building techniques with which they have been built and the quality of the construction materials used. Most of countries with moderate to high seismic risk areas have implemented earthquake-resistant standards to prevent the collapse of buildings and minimize the severity of the damage. However, every new strong shake that occurs around the world reveals bad construction practices that could have been avoided, and the inadequacy or non-existence of earthquake-resistant standards aimed at reducing vulnerability to non-catastrophic levels. Based on the EMS-98 scale, in this chapter we will analyze three case studies of the Ibero-Maghrebian region that have been using similar construction patterns with similar catastrophic results for buildings despite the different dates in which they occurred and the different earthquake-resistant standards: SW Cape St. Vincent earthquake of February 28, 1969; Al Hoceima earthquake of February 24, 2004; and Lorca earthquake of May 11, 2011.

Assessment of Post-Earthquake Damaged Building with Interferometric Real Aperture Radar

In this study the main results of a detailed analysis of an actual building, which was severely damaged during the Mw 5.1, May 11th 2011, Lorca earthquake (Murcia, Spain) are presented. The dynamic behavior of the building was analyzed by means of empirical and numerical approaches. The displacement response of the building submitted to ambient noise was recorded by using a Real Aperture Radar (RAR). This approach provides a secure remote sensing procedure that does not require entering the building. Based on the blueprints and other available graphical information about the building, a numeric 3D model was also set up, allowing obtaining capacity spectra and fragility curves in the two main resistant directions of the building. The main purpose of this study was to check out the feasibility of the RAR-based method to detect the safety state of a damaged building after an earthquake, without the need of entering unsafe structures. A good consistency of the numerical and experimental approaches and the observed damage was obtained, showing that RAR interferometric-based tools may provide promising supplementary remote sensing methods to safely survey and report about the structural health and the operative conditions of buildings in post-earthquake scenarios.

The street, an area exposed to earthquakes (the Lorca case, Spain 2011)

The Lorca earthquake (Spain, 11-05-2011) caused considerable damages, including a building collapse. This earthquake killed 9 persons affected outside the buildings, on the street, and more than 300 people injured. Studying this specific human exposure requires an adapted methodolgy. This article proposes a dynamic and spatio-temporal approach of individual mobility during the seismic crisis. Its application on Lorca case shows spatial and temporal variability of individual exposure level in the street during the hours following the shake. Not really studied until now, this specific human exposure deserves more attention particularly in zones of moderate seismicity, like Euromediterranean area.