Field Investigation and Seismic Analysis of a Historical Brick Masonry Minaret Damaged During the Van Earthquakes in 2011

Abstract

The paper presents the field investigations and seismic analyses of a historical masonry brick minaret damaged during October 23 (Ercis) and November 9 (Edremit), 2011 Van earthquakes in Turkey. Ulu Mosque Minaret located on Tebriz Kapi Street in the city centre of Van, Turkey is selected for investigation. Two earthquakes hit the minaret within seventeen days, causing progressive damage. It was seen from the field investigations that the minaret was heavily damaged. To validate the field investigations, three dimensional finite element model of the minaret is constituted by ANSYS software using relievo drawings. Finite element model of the minaret is analyzed under the Van earthquake records to determine the seismic behavior. The displacements, maximum and minimum principal stresses and strains are obtained from the analyses and compared with field observations.