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In many places of the world, the interruption of touristic activities in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake is often neglected in the evaluation of seismic risks, however, these activities can account for a significant proportion of short-term and long-term economic impacts for these regions. In the last decade, several rapid visual screening techniques have been developed to define the typology of buildings and to estimate their seismic vulnerability and potential for damage. We adapted the existing screening procedures that have been developed for generic buildings to specific circumstances that are most common for tourist accommodations. The proposed approach considered six criteria related to structural and nonstructural elements of buildings, as well as local soil conditions. A score was assigned to each criterion as a function of the capacity of the elements to resist ground shaking. A vulnerability index in four levels of building vulnerability was developed combining the scores of the six criteria. The approach was tested in a pilot area of Montreal to a set of 70 typical buildings grouped in four categories based on their accommodation capacity. In Montreal, tourism is an important source of income for the city where 351,000 room-nights were booked with total stay expenditures of CAD 4.9 billion in 2019. The results indicated potential significant disruptions in activities related to tourism, 46% of the buildings investigated have a high to very high vulnerability index. Among them, 4/5 are located in the old city and 1/5 in the downtown area of the pilot zone.

The seismic vulnerability and damage assessment of heritage buildings at the regional scale can be considered a complex measurement problem that has suggested the development of specific multi-level procedures based on the inventory and classification of typological, constructive features, vulnerability parameters, potential or existing damage. Ancient masonry churches represent a particularly vulnerable architectural typology and the experience progressively acquired during post–earthquake observations have pointed out that recurrent damage patterns and main failure mechanisms can be identified by separately looking at the different architectural “macro–elements”, through on-site surveys. In the last few years, the macro-element approach has been extensively and fruitfully applied to perform preliminary vulnerability assessments, by recognizing the correspondence between each structural macro-element and the most recurrent collapse mechanisms associated. This paper deals with the measurement problem of damages to evaluate seismic vulnerability of historical masonry buildings. To this aim an information system is proposed consisting of a computer platform (named Quality Detection Platform - QDP) and a mobile device dedicated for data acquisition supported by Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The QDP evaluates a vulnerability index by using the macro-element approach and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to improve the interpretations of the obtained measures and calibrate the relative importance of the kinematic and static criteria and automatically assign the weight to each mechanism.

The aim of this study is to develop regional vulnerability functions of buildings to estimate the loss from windstorms. Windstorms trigger critical financial damage to assets around the world. Insurance companies assess the financial risk of their exposures by employing windstorm risk assessment models. The vulnerability function in the risk assessment model is generally based on the analysis of actual damage records from insurance companies. However, the absence of detailed loss data is an obstacle to developing vulnerability functions. To fill this gap, this study provides a methodology to develop a function using an insurance company's loss data associated with windstorms. Vulnerability functions are generated based on the wind speed, line of business, and value of the property. The findings and methodology of this study offer a practical way of reflecting the real economic losses and regional vulnerability of buildings and help to develop vulnerability functions for insurance companies and emergency planners.

A tornado with severe intensity hit the municipalities of Pianiga, Dolo and Mira close to Venice, northeast Italy, causing damages on a wide number of residential and industrial buildings and destroying some historical villas. In this study, the authors show the results of the damage assessment survey performed in the first days after the occurrence of the extreme event. Limited literature deals with damage assessment of European building types due to wind actions, and the available one does not consider building vulnerability as key factor in the structural response of existing structures subject to tornado hazard. In this paper, structural damages surveyed in reinforced concrete frame structures and masonry buildings, representative of common Italian building types, are critically discussed. Additionally, this work provides a database of past tornado events in northeast Italy, evidencing how the analyzed area has been found to be quite prone to tornado hazard.

Co-auteur étranger; International audience; Lahars are volcanic flows containing a mixture of fluid and sediment which have the potential to cause significant damage to buildings, critical infrastructure and human life. The extent of this damage is controlled by properties of the lahar, location of elements at risk and susceptibility of these elements to the lahar. Here we focus on understanding lahar-induced building damage. Quantification of building damage can be difficult due to the 15 complexity of lahar behaviour (hazard), varying number and type of buildings exposed to the lahar (exposure) and the uncertain susceptibility of buildings to lahar impacts (vulnerability). In this paper, we quantify and examine the importance of lahar hazard, exposure and vulnerability in determining building damage with reference to a case study in the city of Arequipa, Peru. Numerical modelling is used to investigate lahar properties that are important in determining the inundation area and forces applied to buildings. Building vulnerability is 20 quantified through the development of critical depth-pressure curves based on the ultimate bending moment of masonry structures. In the case study area, results suggest that building strength plays a minor role in determining overall building losses in comparison to the effects of building exposure and hydraulic characteristics of the lahar.

This paper presents the vulnerability of public buildings in Sabah which are subjected to earthquakes from Sumatra and the Philippines. Tremors in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia due to Sumatra and Philippine earthquakes have been reported several times. Engineers are concerned of the seismic vulnerability of public buildings due to lack of earthquake consideration in Malaysia‟s building design procedure. 8 (eight) reinforced concrete buildings which are mostly categorized as moment resisting frames has been selected for vulnerability study. A case study has been conducted on low rise, medium rise, and high rise buildings. The buildings are analyzed using Finite Element Modeling (FEM) under different types of analyses including Time History Analysis (THA) considering low to medium earthquake intensities. Different intensities of earthquake load, 0.05g, 0.10g, 0.15g and 0.20g are applied to the structures to know the maximum allowable earthquake load intensities for the buildings. In the non-linear analysis of modal frames, it indicates that most of the buildings are categorised in the moderate damage level where there is no structural damage but some non-structural damage are expected. The performances of the structure are shown by the yield point at beam-column connections where the internal forces at beam elements exceed the design capacity of the beams. The Labuan Airport building was performed the early yielding point at 3.85 sec for column element at intensity 0.05g. The study indicates that the plastic hinge initially formed on the column at the lower storey level for both low and high rise building frames.

Quantification of building vulnerability to earthquake and tsunami hazards is a key component for the implementation of structural mitigation strategies fostering the essential shift from post-disaster crisis reaction to preventive measures. Facing accelerating urban sprawl and rapid structural change in modern urban agglomerations in areas of high seismic and tsunami risk, the synergetic use of remote sensing and civil engineering methods offers a great potential to assess building structures up-to-date and area-wide. This paper provides a new methodology contextualizing key components in quantifying building vulnerability with regard to sequenced effects of seismic and tsunami impact. The study was carried out in Cilacap, a coastal City in Central Java, Indonesia. Central is the identification of significant correlations between building characteristics, easily detectable by remote sensing techniques, and detailed in situ measurements stating precise building vulnerability information. As a result, potential vertical evacuation shelters in the study area are detected and a realistic vulnerability assessment of the exposed building stock is given. These findings obtained allow for prioritization of intervention measures such as awareness and preparedness strategies and can be implemented in local disaster management.

After the recent Central Italy Earthquake of the 6th April 2009 (Mw = 6.3), the Italian and German engineer and geophysicist Task Force carried out a wide characterization of sites, buildings and damages. In Navelli, a town about 35 km far from epicentre, heavy damage occurred on a reinforced concrete (RC) building that represent an anomalous case of damage, when compared with those occurred in the neighbouring area. In this paper, characterization of the site and damage of the Navelli RC Building is reported and discussed. We performed ambient noise and strong motion measurements, installing one three-directional accelerometer on each floor of the structure and two in free-field, and we have carried out repeated measurements using a couple of three-directional tromometers. In the mean time, a geological survey was carried out and the site response was investigated, with the aid of down-hole measurements. It was thus possible to investigate the structural response and damage taking into account site condition. One of the main results of this work is that repeating analyses using ambient noise measurements show that the main structural frequencies reached after the first damaging shock are constant over time, and then the structural behaviour appears stationary at long term. On the other hand, the strong motion recordings show that the building exhibits a transient non-stationary behaviour as the fundamental frequency changes during each aftershock, then returning to the starting value after each event.

Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of tsunamis and exposure along the SE coast of New South Wales is especially high. Significantly, this is the same area reported to have been affected by repeated large magnitude tsunamis during the Holocene. Efforts are under way to complete probabilistic risk assessments for the region but local government planners and emergency risk managers need information now about building vulnerability in order to develop appropriate risk management strategies. We use the newly revised PTVA-3 Model (Dall'Osso et al., 2009) to assess the relative vulnerability of buildings to damage from a "worst case tsunami" defined by our latest understanding of regional risk – something never before undertaken in Australia. We present selected results from an investigation of building vulnerability within the local government area of Manly – an iconic coastal area of Sydney. We show that a significant proportion of buildings (in particular, residential structures) are classified as having "High" and "Very High" Relative Vulnerability Index scores. Furthermore, other important buildings (e.g., schools, nursing homes and transport structures) are also vulnerable to damage. Our results have serious implications for immediate emergency risk management, longer-term land-use zoning and development, and building design and construction standards. Based on the work undertaken here, we recommend further detailed assessment of the vulnerability of coastal buildings in at risk areas, development of appropriate risk management strategies and a detailed program of community engagement to increase overall resilience.