Seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings in Surat city of western India

Abstract

In Surat city, the second largest city of Gujarat, 6930 buildings had been rapidly screened (RVS). RVS is known as a sidewalk evaluation, in which a skilled screener inspect a structure visually in order to recognize characteristics that influence the building's seismic output, for example the construction type, seismic zones, soil, and irregularities, etc. This study of RVS is based on the checklists in a RCC and Masonry Performa. Other significant structure information, including building occupancy and possible structural risks, are also collected during the screening. A performance score of the structure is calculated based on RVS values that correspond to these characteristics. In comparison with a cuts-off rating, the structure rating determines if a construction has possible vulnerabilities to be evaluated by a skilled engineer. We applied the Gaussian distribution methodology for cut off score in this study. The Gaussian distribution is also commonly called the normal distribution. Though, there are varied constructions practices, 74% constructions are RCC and 26% masonry structures. The performance results of surveyed buildings show that about 80 percent of both structures have high quality because they have a performance rating > 60. The survey’s results also indicate that buildings practice have been changed from masonry to RCC after 2001 Bhuj earthquake (M7.7). Due to design, RCC buildings will have more shear capacity to tolerate the seismic shaking in comparison to the masonry buildings.