Structural Performance of Masonry Buildings Under Harsh Climate and Seismic Loads

Abstract

Masonry buildings in Van which is a city located at the eastern border of Turkey exposed to several earthquakes in 2020 while continuously being subjected to harsh weather conditions. Two earthquakes with Mw = 5.9 occurred on the same day and four months after another one hit the region. Besides the earthquakes 124 freeze-thaw cycles occur annually and the region has snow and rain approximately 103 days. Both continuously and periodically applied environmental exposures due to harsh weather conditions and earthquakes that is significant in a short period, affects the structural performance of the masonry buildings adversely. During the field investigations after the earthquakes, it was realized that none of the buildings comply with the available codes, foundations, and walls damaged due to the environmental exposures and those damages either increased or end up with total collapse due to the seismic loading. Besides the damaged buildings, it was observed that some buildings were strengthened locally at the corners. L shaped reinforced concrete columns were added to the cracked corners to increase the lateral capacity of the walls. That strengthening seemed to be adequate for low seismicity because no significant damage was seen.