Publication

Abstract : India positions among the top five nations which have been hit by the most number of catastrophic events in the preceding decade. The current study is focussed on seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings by FEMA (Federal emergency management agency) guidelines (HAZUS methodology) in selected regions of a Tier II city of south India–Coimbatore (falling in Zone III as per BIS 1893–2016). For the present study, an earthquake event with a moment magnitude (Mw) 5.4 is considered, which is the Maximum considered event (MCE) for Coimbatore. The predominant typologies of existing buildings of the selected city regions (designated as Corporation wards) are determined by Rapid Visual Screening (RVS methodology). Six model building types were predominant and their peak building response was obtained with the intersection of the capacity curve and demand spectra. Peak building response is utilized for determining the damage probability states viz., slight, moderate, extensive and complete for the building types. The vulnerability index of model building type was obtained by taking a weighted average of damage probability. The distribution of buildings in each ward is incorporated with model building damage probabilities to identify wards of higher seismic vulnerability. The significant variation in the ward wise vulnerability index of selected wards highlights the influence of building typology their distribution pattern across the different regions of the city.