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In a recent work, we evidenced some empirical discrepancies between the macroseismic intensity estimates in Italy in the last decade with respect to those made previously. A possible reason might be the progressive adoption by Italian researchers of the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) in place of the Mercalli Cancani Sieberg (MCS) scale mostly used up to 2009. In theory, in modern settlements where reinforced concrete (RC) buildings are increasingly replacing those in masonry, EMS should overestimate MCS because the former accounts for the lower vulnerability of RC whereas the latter does not because RC buildings were not considered at all by the MCS scale since they were almost absent at the time (1912–1932) when it was compiled by Sieberg. However, such theoretical inference is contradicted by the empirical evidence that, on average, MCS intensities really estimated in Italy over the past decade slightly overestimate EMS and not vice versa as it should be. A possible explanation is that the EMS scale had not been well calibrated to reproduce the MCS, as its authors intended to do. Another possible reason for the discrepancies between the last decade and the previous ones might be that the MCS scale applied today is not the same as that defined by Sieberg at the beginning of the twentieth century. In order to better understand the possible causes of such discrepancies, we present here a formal comparison between the definitions of the different degrees of such macroseismic scales. After such analysis, we might argue that another possible reason for the observed discrepancy may come from the inaccurate assessment of building vulnerability when assessing the EMS intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an innovative method for rapidly assessing building vulnerability, with a focus on potential threats. The approach begins with a historical analysis and a review of state-of-the-art literature obtained from open sources. Subsequently, a tool is introduced, incorporating weighted parameters related to threat typology and available mitigation elements. Critical issues in the overall building vulnerability analysis are pinpointed through a scenario-based approach. While primary literature references are based on explosive attacks (such as Beirut in the '80 s, Nairobi in the '90 s, Oklahoma City in the '90s, etc.), the method also considers non- conventional weapons such as Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats, along with emerging threats involving direct energy targeting (e.g., Havana Syndrome). The analysis covers six domains: Layout, Structure & Boundary, Technological Plants, In & Out Ways, Cyber, and Building Security Management. Each domain undergoes a comprehensive analysis, identifying threats and developing scenarios and sub-scenarios associated with presumed risks affecting the building. Specific characteristics for each action are identified, with parametric weights assigned to reflect their significance in the overall vulnerability assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing or predicting seismic damage in buildings is an essential and challenging component of seismic risk studies. Machine learning methods offer new perspectives for damage characterization, taking advantage of available data on the characteristics of built environments. In this study, we aim (1) to characterize seismic damage using a classification model trained and tested on damage survey data from earthquakes in Nepal, Haiti, Serbia and Italy and (2) to test how well a model trained on a given region (host) can predict damage in another region (target). The strategy adopted considers only simple data characterizing the building (number of stories and building age), seismic ground motion (macroseismic intensity) and a traffic-light-based damage classification model (green, yellow, red categories). The study confirms that the extreme gradient boosting classification model (XGBC) with oversampling predicts damage with 60% accuracy. However, the quality of the survey is a key issue for model performance. Furthermore, the host-to-target test suggests that the model's applicability may be limited to regions with similar contextual environments (e.g., socio-economic conditions). Our results show that a model from one region can only be applied to another region under certain conditions. We expect our model to serve as a starting point for further analysis in host-to-target region adjustment and confirm the need for additional post-earthquake surveys in other regions with different tectonic, urban fabric and socio-economic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cilacap is one of several areas that experienced significant damage due to the Pangandaran tsunami in 2007. Currently, tsunamis are one of the most serious threats to coastal areas as they can cause devastation to the function of coastal areas. The physical environment can extensively affect the probability of damage caused by tsunamis. In addition, it is critical to maintain building stability as a substantial component in the integrated management efforts of coastal areas. The aim of this research is to assess the physical susceptibility and the vulnerability of school buildings to tsunami, particularly senior high school buildings (known as SMA/MA) located in the coastal area of the Cilacap region. This research is essential for the continuity of learning and teaching activities in the coastal area. Therefore, mapping the physical environment and school buildings in the coastal area of the Cilacap region is necessary. In this study, the physical approach method and Papathoma Vulnerability Tsunami Assessment (PVTA) model were optimally applied to assess coastal vulnerabilities to tsunami. Ultimately, the results were further evaluated by using cross-tabulation. The results confirm that specific coastal areas were categorised as having “moderate to high” susceptibility. Simultaneously, owing to the field survey, we determined that school buildings at this location were made of simple reinforced concrete materials. Notwithstanding that the vulnerability of the school buildings were low, the conditions were deemed to be reasonably harmful given that the schools were located in a “moderate to high” susceptibility. The results of this study have implications for the level of potential physical susceptibility of the coastal areas and the vulnerability of school buildings to tsunamis in the Cilacap region.

Community and household vulnerability to natural hazards, e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, is a concern that transcends geographic and economic boundaries. Despite the abundance of research in this field, most existing methods remain inefficient and face the challenge of data scarcity. By formulating and investigating the correlation between the household vulnerability and street view images of buildings, this research seeks to bridge the knowledge gap to enable an efficient assessment. Especially in developing countries, the widespread prevalence of outdated or inadequately enforced building codes poses a significant challenge. Consequently, a considerable portion of the housing stock in these regions fails to meet acceptable standards, rendering it highly vulnerable to natural hazards and climate-related events. Evaluating housing quality is crucial for informing public policies and private investments. However, current assessment methods are often time-consuming and costly. To address this issue, we propose the development of a rapid and reliable evaluation framework that is also cost-efficient. The framework employs a low-cost street view imagery procedure combined with deep learning to automatically extract building information to assist in identifying housing characteristics. We then test its potential for scalability and higher-level reliability. More importantly, we aim to quantify household vulnerability based on street view imagery. Household vulnerability is typically assessed through traditional means like surveys or census data; however, these sources can be costly and may not reflect the most current information. We have developed an index that effectively captures the most detailed data available at both the housing unit and household level. This index serves as a comprehensive representation, enabling us to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing our model's predictions to estimate vulnerability conditions in specific areas while optimizing costs. Through latent class clustering and ANOVA analysis, we have discovered a strong correlation between the predictions derived from the images and the household vulnerability index. This correlation will potentially enable large-scale, cost-effective evaluation of household vulnerability using only street view images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wooden log house serves as a prevalent architectural archetype in rural regions of several Nordic and Baltic countries. To ensure the long-lasting nature of these buildings, proper maintenance is imperative. However, in order to meet the evolving expectations of residents and minimize the environmental impact, a deep renovation is currently required. To successfully achieve the goals of this renovation wave and effectively address the personal needs of the homeowners, it is crucial to develop systemic renovation solutions that can be offered through a digital renovation passport. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to identify common damages, renovation requirements, and evaluate current renovation practices. The findings will serve as a crucial resource for the development of a digital renovation passport. In our study, we utilize rural wooden log houses (comprising 208 houses, 4 years of data) as our research subject. The building elements that are most in need of renovation are the external walls, roofs, and foundations, which require renovation in 77%, 63%, and 63% of the buildings, respectively. The primary cause of damage to the vulnerable structures is excessive moisture. Additionally, decay in the foundation can be attributed to factors such as erosion of mortar, frost, insufficient plinth height, inadequate foundation depth, and inadequate moisture protection. Recommendations provided by consultants primarily focus on restoring and preserving the dwellings' original architectural appearance. As a result, they are deemed insufficient in terms of improving energy performance and indoor climate. This lack of comprehensive consultation is concerning as it fails to consider the potential for cost efficiency, minimizing disruption to occupants, and achieving a comprehensive end result. The absence of recommendations for enhancing indoor climate, energy efficiency, general living quality, and reducing the building's carbon footprint performance highlight the necessity for such renovation solutions and the importance of educating professionals and homeowners. The study's novelty lies in the establishment of statistical probabilities for damages and their causes, as well as the assessment of renovation and maintenance needs and the quality of existing recommendations. Results are scaled to the Estonian building stock, showing the renovation need on national scale. The findings can be incorporated into the digital renovation passport, along with specific renovation goals related to a given house. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cilacap is one of several areas that experienced significant damage due to the Pangandaran tsunami in 2007. Currently, tsunamis are one of the most serious threats to coastal areas as they can cause devastation to the function of coastal areas. The physical environment can extensively affect the probability of damage caused by tsunamis. In addition, it is critical to maintain building stability as a substantial component in the integrated management efforts of coastal areas. The aim of this research is to assess the physical susceptibility and the vulnerability of school buildings to tsunami, particularly senior high school buildings (known as SMA/MA) located in the coastal area of the Cilacap region. This research is essential for the continuity of learning and teaching activities in the coastal area. Therefore, mapping the physical environment and school buildings in the coastal area of the Cilacap region is necessary. In this study, the physical approach method and Papathoma Vulnerability Tsunami Assessment (PVTA) model were optimally applied to assess coastal vulnerabilities to tsunami. Ultimately, the results were further evaluated by using cross-tabulation. The results confirm that specific coastal areas were categorised as having "moderate to high" susceptibility. Simultaneously, owing to the field survey, we determined that school buildings at this location were made of simple reinforced concrete materials. Notwithstanding that the vulnerability of the school buildings were low, the conditions were deemed to be reasonably harmful given that the schools were located in a "moderate to high" susceptibility. The results of this study have implications for the level of potential physical susceptibility of the coastal areas and the vulnerability of school buildings to tsunamis in the Cilacap region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tephra fall can lead to significant additional loading on roofs. Understanding the relevant geomechanical properties of tephra is critical when assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tephra fall and designing buildings to withstand tephra loads. Through analysis of published data and new experimental results on dry tephra (both natural samples from Ascension Island, South Atlantic and synthetic tephra made from crushed aggregates), we discuss the geomechanical properties of tephra relevant to roof loading, which include bulk density, grain size distribution and internal angle of friction. Compiled published data for deposits from 64 global eruptions reveal no clear trend in deposit densities based on magma composition or eruption size. The global data show a wide range of values within single eruptions and between eruptions of similar compositions. Published grain size distributions near to source (≤ 10 km) vary widely but again there are no clear trends relating to magma composition. We used laboratory tests to investigate the internal angle of friction, which influences deposit sliding behaviour. For dry tephra, at the low normal stresses likely to be experienced in roof loads (≤ 35 kPa), we found similar values across all our tests (35.8° - 36.5°) suggesting that any internal sliding will be consistent across a variety of deposits. By considering different magma compositions, densities and grain size distributions, we have provided an envelope of values for deposit parameters relevant to roof loading, in which future eruptions are likely to sit. Finally, we created synthetic tephra (fine- and coarse-grained pumice and scoria) by crushing volcanic aggregates and compared it to samples from Ascension and published data. Our results reveal that synthetic tephra successfully replicated the properties relevant to loading, potentially reducing the need to collect and transport natural samples.

Community and household vulnerability to natural hazards, e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, is a concern that transcends geographic and economic boundaries. Despite the abundance of research in this field, most existing methods remain inefficient and face the challenge of data scarcity. By formulating and investigating the correlation between the household vulnerability and street view images of buildings, this research seeks to bridge the knowledge gap to enable an efficient assessment. Especially in developing countries, the widespread prevalence of outdated or inadequately enforced building codes poses a significant challenge. Consequently, a considerable portion of the housing stock in these regions fails to meet acceptable standards, rendering it highly vulnerable to natural hazards and climate-related events. Evaluating housing quality is crucial for informing public policies and private investments. However, current assessment methods are often time-consuming and costly. To address this issue, we propose the development of a rapid and reliable evaluation framework that is also cost-efficient. The framework employs a low-cost street view imagery procedure combined with deep learning to automatically extract building information to assist in identifying housing characteristics. We then test its potential for scalability and higher-level reliability. More importantly, we aim to quantify household vulnerability based on street view imagery. Household vulnerability is typically assessed through traditional means like surveys or census data; however, these sources can be costly and may not reflect the most current information. We have developed an index that effectively captures the most detailed data available at both the housing unit and household level. This index serves as a comprehensive representation, enabling us to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing our model’s predictions to estimate vulnerability conditions in specific areas while optimizing costs. Through latent class clustering and ANOVA analysis, we have discovered a strong correlation between the predictions derived from the images and the household vulnerability index. This correlation will potentially enable large-scale, cost-effective evaluation of household vulnerability using only street view images.

The 2021 flood: engineering analysis of building damage The flood event of July 2021 left extremely severe structural damage to the general buildings and infrastructure especially in the affected areas of Rhineland‐Palatinate and North Rhine‐Westphalia. The article gives an overview of the results of a damage documentation that was carried out immediately after the flood in the Ahr valley and Bad Münstereifel. The survey continues a line of flood damage analyses carried out over the past 20 years by the Earthquake Damage Analysis Center at the Bauhaus‐Universität Weimar, which has resulted in the development of an engineering‐based flood damage model that can takes into account such severe structural damage. With the documentation of the damage, the knowledge gained by EDAC about the behavior of the various building types under the influence of extreme flooding conditions could be deepened and checked for plausibility. The flood damage patterns found confirm the approaches of the EDAC flood damage model and show the need for an extension to take into account the special features of the building stock and the flooding conditions that occurred. A connection is given to ongoing studies, in which drone‐based techniques for rapid assessment of the status of areas affected by a natural disaster and the existing buildings are presented with the aim of generating realistic and easily interpretable situation images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to compare several regulations that evaluate the level of vulnerability of school buildings in Yogyakarta. The regulations used in this study are a guide to assessing and repairing damage to public housing buildings due to the earthquake according to the Department of Public Works in 2000, technical guidelines for safe school rehabilitation according to the National Disaster Management Agency in 2011, a broken one or two-story simple building block safety check guide due to the earthquake according to the 2009 World Seismic Safety Initiative and using rapid visual screening of building for potential seismic hazards according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency No. 154 of 2002. The 25 schools selected in this study were located in areas prone to earthquakes, volcanoes erupted and prone to landslides. Through this research, the results of the appropriate regulations were obtained to evaluate the rapid level of vulnerability of buildings to disasters and evaluation of certain disaster cases was needed because the regulations did not accommodate all types of disasters.

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.

Some cities in Indonesia which are located on Southern Java Island are susceptible to tsunamis. However, the application of participatory GIS for the assessment of building vulnerability to tsunamis remains rarely evaluated. The aims of this research are 1) to obtain the parameters of building vulnerability to tsunamis using the participatory approach, and 2) to evaluate the results of building vulnerability assessment using participatory GIS. A tsunami inundation map was constructed based on numerical modelling using the Hawke's Bay equation. Participatory approaches were taken to establish the parameters that affect the vulnerability of buildings to tsunamis using in-depth interviews. Respondents were selected using the purposive sampling technique. A geographic information system (GIS) was then applied to build a geodatabase and to perform analysis. The results show that six parameters were obtained from local people’s participation, namely building materials, the number of stories of the buildings , orientation, preservation condition, building row, and natural barriers. All the parameters were identified and interpreted using aerial photos. A field survey was conducted to complete the information on building characteristics. Many buildings near the beach were classified as having high and moderate vulnerability. The main benefit of participatory GIS is that the role of the community makes a significant contribution to providing vulnerability information. It also raises public awareness and improves preparedness for disaster risk management. The drawback is that parameters based on participatory approaches are dynamic and may be different in other areas.

The seismicity of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula is moderate but large events with long return periods occur (≈ 200 years). This exceeds the life of various generations, making the population unacquainted with the seismic hazard. On the one hand, this results in a low demanding seismic code which increases the seismic vulnerability and, therefore, the seismic risk. On the other hand, the local emergency services must be properly prepared to face a destructive seismic event, with emergency plans and mitigation strategies. This assumption enhances the need of assessing the seismic risk of Seville in a civil protection context. For all the aforementioned and for the lack of instrumental data of relevant earthquakes, the assessment of the seismic hazard in this area is challenging. To do this, seismogenic zones of the new seismic hazard map of Spain have been used as sources. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) for each scenario has been calculated by means of ground motion prediction equations (GMPE). To estimate the site effects, in a 1D model environment, a shear wave velocity (Vs) map of the top 5 m has been depicted based on the standard penetration test (SPT). Seville's building stock has been classified in agreement with the previous works in Lorca and Barcelona to determine its vulnerability. The main goal of this work was to investigate the influence of the soil amplification on the seismic behaviour of different building typologies. Therefore, the final target was to plot the damage scenarios expected in Seville under a maximum credible earthquake by means of a deterministic seismic hazard assessment (DSHA). As outputs, the scenario modelled showed that around 27 000 buildings would experience a moderate damage and that 26 000 would suffer pre-collapse or even collapse. Thus, approximately 10% of the population would lose their dwellings. Regarding the human loses, around 22 000 people would suffer serious injuries and approximately 5 000 people would die. Owing to these conclusions, this research evidences the crucial need by civil protection services to implement a local emergency plan as a tool to mitigate the probable consequences that arise from this threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital representations of physical objects allows to simulate phenomena and predict behaviours. The representativeness of a model is based on the congruency between the code, the survey and the modelling strategies. In terms of physical space, two important approaches are the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Building Information Modelling (BIM). GIS approach is intended to code environmental information based on geographical references. BIM approach is intended to code buildings in terms of their components, generating parametric descriptions. For historic buildings, BIM extends to the so-called Historical BIM models (HBIM). Together, these strategies allow coding territorial-scale entities, such as historical centres. An application for these models would be the simulation of risk situations, leading to vulnerability analysis. Despite the existence of GIS-BIM-HBIM integration examples, most of their procedures are designed to fit with a specific case study, which questions the suitability of a general coding framework. This paper presents a vision of state-of-the-art technologies and strategies for coding, surveying and model historical centres, with emphases on the analysis of urban vulnerability and risk. Finally, we propose a general comprehensive framework on the convergences of GIS-BIM-HBIM technologies and successful practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with a highly seismic area located in the SW of the Basilicata region (southern Italy), along the valley of the Agri River. This area has a strategic role for Italy because about 70% of the Italian oil extraction derives from local deposits. Large quantities of oil have been extracted since the 1990s, making available large resources deriving from royalties. These sums of money could be used for an extensive strengthening program able to reduce the impact of future earthquakes. To this end, an action plan for the seismic risk mitigation of the residential building stock of 18 villages located in the Agri Valley is outlined, and specifically applied to the village of Viggiano. Starting from the available building-by-building inventory of the typological characteristics collected during previous research activities, the seismic vulnerability of the whole building stock is studied and the expected losses deriving from an earthquake scenario are determined. Some directions for an action plan, essentially based on the reduction of seismic vulnerability of buildings, are proposed in terms of needed costs and implementation timetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An application for a quick earthquake damage scenario assessment is here presented as a potential tool for planning prevention actions or managing seismic emergencies in the volcanic region of Mt. Etna (Italy). As case-study, we considered the December 26, 2018 earthquake that, with a magnitude MW 4.9, represents the largest event occurring in the area during the last 70 years. The QUEST working group (the INGV macroseismic team) carried out a detailed survey in the damage area, collecting data on the number of buildings in the different vulnerability classes and related damage, with the aim to assign intensity. The maximum intensity reached degree VIII EMS along a narrow strip extending for 5 km astride the Fiandaca fault. In this paper, we simulated the damage scenario in the most struck municipalities of the epicentral area by testing different methodological approaches proposed in the literature using the information of the ISTAT census data collected by the Italian Institute of Statistics. We evaluated the damage level of the residential buildings and we validated the results comparing with the real damage data recognized in the field. Our analysis highlighted the difficulty of applying methods calibrated for larger earthquakes in tectonic domains, to small magnitude events in volcanic zones, where some operating assumptions must be introduced. Despite this, the results confirm the potential of the simulations based on statistical damage assessment methods also in these peculiar conditions, opening the way to finalized plans of pre- and post-earthquake interventions.

We present a fine-scale shallow geological setting and its possible influence on the seismic building behaviour of L'Aquila downtown which suffered many casualties and building damage caused by the 6 April 2009, Mw 6.1 earthquake. This study draws mainly on the integration of 666 borehole logs and 274 microtremor recordings interpolated with GIS-based techniques. The shallow geology of L'Aquila downtown is characterised by Middle Pleistocene calcareous L'Aquila breccias. Their top surface consists of a weathered epikarst zone that is mantled by Red Soil (reddish colluviated Alfisols) formed during the late Pleistocene. The areal distribution and thickness of Red Soil are causative of the medium microtremor frequency (3–13 Hz). The map of cross-correlation between the medium frequencies, estimated through the empirical Eurocode 8 equation, shows buildings with possible seismic coupling due to the shallow geology setting and the fundamental building period. This technique is further supported by the areal distribution of seismic building damages caused by the 2009 and 1703 L'Aquila earthquakes. This approach, carried out with a large geological and geophysical dataset, is useful in defining seismic site effects and may be effective in mitigating the seismic risk of cities with notable historical heritage in Central Italy, such as the L'Aquila downtown area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

Abstract 3D city models associate a database of a city to a rigorous geospatial representation that is close to the visible reality by combining appearance, geometry, and semantics. As such, these models may include tools that convey attribute analysis, not only at the statistical level but also in terms of visual appearance of the objects, thus allowing the generation of new knowledge about a phenomenon or its effects. Lisbon is a city with a moderate level of seismic risk, and has been hit in the past by strong earthquakes. Several seismic vulnerability studies of buildings have been carried out in Lisbon. These studies generate different scenarios that consider the magnitude and source location of potential earthquakes. The results of these studies were presented as maps obtained from crossing information contained in 2D layers and presented in a GIS environment. In the present study a seismic vulnerability assessment of Lisbon’s buildings held in 2D is extended to the third dimension, which refines the resolution and the set of parameters and explores the gains of spatial analysis in 3D representations. The numerous parameters that contribute to assess seismic vulnerability of buildings may be analyzed individually or simultaneously as well as in multiple seismic scenarios. Although covering all residential buildings in Lisbon, the application of the 3D city model is demonstrated with more detail in three pilot areas.

Tsunami risk assessment is an important component of the planning for risk reduction. We considered tsunami risk as a convolution of tsunami hazard, vulnerability of the assets at risk (e.g. buildings) and the economic value exposed. For testing the model, a coastal segment at the west of Heraklion, capital city of Crete Isl., Greece, was selected. Heraklion was hit in the past by strong tectonic and volcanic tsunamis, generated along the Hellenic Arc in the Mediterranean region. The Minoan tsunami produced by pyroclastic flows during the LBA (17th century BC) great eruption of Thera (Santorini) was selected as an extreme tsunami scenario for the hazard (inundation) zone determination through numerical simulation based on Boussinesq equations for fully non-linear waves. It was found that the wave penetrates inland up to ~ 1.2 km, while the maximum water depth is ~ 14 m. The building stock was obtained from the 2011 national census data and validated with the use of orthophotomaps, field inspection and Google Maps. Building vulnerability was determined with the use of the empirical GIS tool DAMASCHE which is based on 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami building damage data and produces damage level by combining water depth and building construction types. The damage level was translated to absolute monetary loss on the basis of cost flat rates determined officially for building replacement, i.e., either reparation or reconstruction, after the destructive earthquakes in Greece during 2014. The method is applicable in other parts of the Mediterranean and beyond provided that appropriate data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 12th November 2017, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 Richter scale in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab took place that caused lots of human casualties and devastation. After the incident, issues related to the probability of an earthquake with equal intensity and extents of similar building destruction were raised in Kermanshah city. Therefore, a seismic microzonation map of Kermanshah city has been prepared based on the geotechnical, geological, and geophysical data, and the data were analysed using Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In the next step, the vulnerability analysis of city buildings was carried out based on the ground-shaking map, vulnerability curves, and statistical data regarding the buildings. The results of the vulnerability rate of residential buildings indicate that 80% of residential buildings would be exposed to vulnerability from low to moderate. However, other buildings would suffer 2% fully destruction (D1), 7% very high destruction (D2) and 11% high destruction (D3), respectively. Finally, according to the obtained results, the proposed model is verified with the help of the data and observations from the Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake, which reveals that the model is in good agreement with the actual earthquake data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Main air pollutants involved in the degradation of traditional building materials. • Focus on the corrosion of metals, stone recession, black crusts and soiling. • Assessment of experimental methods and prediction formulations to quantify effects. • Mapping areas at risk and efficiency of urban mitigation strategies, namely LEZ. • Assessment of building vulnerability based on an environmental vulnerability index. For many decades, countless studies have been performed regarding the effects of the environment on traditional building materials, presenting methods to mostly quantify phenomena such as the corrosion of metals, stone degradation and soiling. Driven by concerning levels of air pollution in the late 1980's, many large international programmes such as the ICP-Materials, MICAT and ISOCORRAG have been testing worldwide material behaviour when exposed to acidifying pollutants, causing corrosion of metals and stone recession. Numerous individual studies have also contributed to a higher understanding of pollution effects on materials, including soiling studies. The methodologies mostly consist of open exposure of standard samples, either for short, mid or long periods, followed by a statistical analysis of the results, in order to develop accurate prediction formulations used for mapping exercises and to determine areas at risk. Considering all the available information, the contribution of this work is to perform an extensive bibliographic review, organized in the form of 10 basic questions that attempt to present and describe the effects of pollution on materials and practical ways to determine risk areas at urban scales and implement well-supported pollution mitigation strategies. The answers to these questions always take into consideration a more practical approach towards the identification of potential risk and subsequent intervention. Additionally, a new methodology regarding the assessment of environmental effects on actual buildings is discussed for the preservation of historic city centres, through the identification of potentially vulnerable buildings regarding deterioration effects by atmospheric corrosion, soiling and stone degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the damage to buildings from volcanic eruptions is an important aspect of volcanic risk assessment and management. However, there is a limited empirical evidence base to draw upon when describing the relation between volcanic hazard intensity and resulting physical damage. The 2015 subplinian eruption of Calbuco volcano, Chile, caused damage to buildings near the volcano because of tephra fall and lahars. Chilean authorities conducted a damage assessment of 961 properties (990 buildings) to inform an assistance programme for property owners affected by the eruption. Property assessments typically contained observations and classification of damage to a house, and in some instances accessory buildings such as sheds, garages, and exterior storage rooms. In this study we used this unique damage data set to adapt damage state frameworks for tephra fall and lahar for classifying and analysing damage observations. We developed data quality indicators to provide transparency for how we accounted for data quality issues. We assigned a tephra and/or lahar damage state to 571 buildings (530 houses and 41 accessory buildings). The 419 buildings for which we did not assign a damage state either had too little information or fell outside of tephra and/or lahar hazard zones. The minimum tephra thickness isopach band that caused complete collapse was 10 to 15 cm (dry deposit loading ~1 to 1.6 kN m−2, saturated deposit loading 1.6 to 2.4 kN m−2), but most commonly (55% of tephra exposed DS5 houses n = 11), this occurred at 15 to 30 cm (dry deposit loading ~1.5 to 3.3 kN m−2, saturated deposit loading 2.4 to 4.8 kN m−2). Lahar damage was typically described as complete (DS5), with 26 houses being swept away or destroyed around the Blanco South River. Our results add to the limited evidence base of post-eruption tephra and lahar impacts to buildings and contribute to volcanic risk and impact assessment. • Damage states assigned to 571 buildings affected by tephra and/or lahar. • Most common tephra thickness band causing collapse of buildings was 15–30 cm. • Lahars typically completely damaged buildings (Damage State 5). • Quality of hazard, asset, and impact data can vary substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Santorini Island, located in the Southern Aegean Sea, is prone to tsunamis due to its proximity to the Hellenic subduction zone, which is one of the major tsunamigenic areas. Characteristic events, such as those of 365 A.D. and 1303 A.D. greatly affected the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, causing significant loss of life and construction damage. Tsunami disaster risk is nowadays significantly higher due to the increased exposure of the buildings as a result of the economic and touristic growth of the Aegean Islands. This study focuses on the eastern coast of Santorini, since its morphology and human presence amplify the necessity to assess its building vulnerability. After conducting an exposure analysis at the settlements of the eastern coast, Kamari poses the highest physical, social and economic relative exposure to any potential natural hazard. The main objective of this research is to quantify the building stock’s vulnerability to tsunami hazard. For this purpose, a “worst-case run-up scenario” was developed. Considering the history of tsunamis in the Aegean Sea, an extreme sea-level rise after a 10 m a.s.l. tsunami run-up, caused by an earthquake with Mw~8.5, was assumed. The relative vulnerability of the buildings in Kamari was calculated via the application of the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability Assessment (PTVA-4) analytic model. The results indicate that 423 buildings are within the inundation zone, 58% of which are characterized as highly and very highly vulnerable to tsunamis, revealing the problematic characteristics of the building stock, offering important information to the decision-makers to mitigate a possible future tsunami impact.

Due to the risk exposure of urban centers, built in dystonia with the environmental context, it is necessary to implement territorial development policies which consider risk analysis as an essential condition for planning. The innovative approach proposed by the D.I.C.E.A. for the drafting of the Emergency Plan of the Municipality of Pozzuoli, considered the residential system as a further intrinsic risk factor, determined by the buildings characteristics and by the relationship with the urban environment. As an experiment the Building Vulnerability Charter was created to define critical areas, in which priority should be given to strategic planning of interventions aimed at increasing urban resilience.

Highlights • Macro-element approach applied to perform preliminary vulnerability assessments. • Large scale and multi-level damage measurement identified collapse mechanisms. • Information System assessed structural and safety conditions of masonry buildings. • AHP is used to calibrate and automatically assign weights to damage measure. • Two case studies tested the new methodology and the presented vulnerability index. Abstract 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vulnerability index and capacity spectrum-based methods used to assess the expected physical damage in dwellings are revisited, and their main advantages and shortcomings are analyzed and discussed. Then, a vulnerability index-based method is used to assess the expected damage in the oldest district of Barcelona, Spain. The risk analysis is performed for earthquake scenarios defined by macroseismic intensities of V, V-VI, VI, VI-VII, and VII to design seismic emergency plans. According to the Spanish Seismic Code, the basic peak ground acceleration for a 475-year return period is 0.04 g, which corresponds to an intensity of VI. Thus, the expected physical damage is quantified and its impact on population and other quantities, such as debris and economic cost, are studied. In spite of the low-to-moderate seismic hazard in Barcelona, the results show that the risk is high, due to the high exposure and vulnerability of the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying building vulnerability under landslide run-out impacts is a pivotal aspect of landslide quantitative risk assessment (QRA). The degree of loss of buildings exposed to landslides (i.e., vulnerability) is dictated by the interplay between landslide run-out impacts and the resistance capacity of the building. However, the current link between landslide run-out and building capacity evaluations in landslide QRA is weak. Furthermore, uncertainties regarding both landslide run-out and building response must be quantified via suitable methods to enhance the trustworthiness of vulnerability evaluations. This study proposes a probabilistic framework to evaluate building vulnerability under landslide run-out impacts. The framework comprises a numerical model, which integrates dynamic run-out computations (for simulating the landslide run-out process) and finite element computations (for evaluating the resistance capacity of the building under lateral loading), aiming to assess the damage inflicted on buildings by landslide run-out impacts. Considering the uncertainties of the landslide run-out process and building structural response, a probability density evolution method (PDEM) is employed to calculate the exceedance probabilities of different limit states of building capacities. Ultimately, building vulnerability under landslide run-out impacts is ascertained by combining the probabilities of different damage states with their respective loss ratios. The proposed methodology is illustrated in a scenario where a flow-type loess landslide impacts a five-story reinforced-concrete (RC) frame building. The results indicate that the PDEM effectively estimates the exceedance probabilities with tolerable computational errors. Moreover, the vulnerability results link the failure probability of landslides and the cost of building damage within the QRA framework of individual landslides whose run-out affects nearby buildings. • A probabilistic framework is developed to evaluate building vulnerability under landslide run-out impacts • The uncertainties regarding both the landslide run-out and the building structural response are considered • A probability density evolution method is used to significantly improve computational efficiency • The probabilities of landslide intensities exceeding different levels of building capacities are calculated • Results can be directly employed for quantitative risk assessment of individual landslides [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D city models associate a database of a city to a rigorous geospatial representation that is close to the visible reality by combining appearance, geometry, and semantics. As such, these models may include tools that convey attribute analysis, not only at the statistical level but also in terms of visual appearance of the objects, thus allowing the generation of new knowledge about a phenomenon or its effects. Lisbon is a city with a moderate level of seismic risk, and has been hit in the past by strong earthquakes. Several seismic vulnerability studies of buildings have been carried out in Lisbon. These studies generate different scenarios that consider the magnitude and source location of potential earthquakes. The results of these studies were presented as maps obtained from crossing information contained in 2D layers and presented in a GIS environment. In the present study a seismic vulnerability assessment of Lisbon's buildings held in 2D is extended to the third dimension, which refines the resolution and the set of parameters and explores the gains of spatial analysis in 3D representations. The numerous parameters that contribute to assess seismic vulnerability of buildings may be analyzed individually or simultaneously as well as in multiple seismic scenarios. Although covering all residential buildings in Lisbon, the application of the 3D city model is demonstrated with more detail in three pilot areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though numerous methods have been developed to predict the vulnerability of urban areas to flooding, there is still room for improvement in determining the susceptibility of individual buildings. This work aims to identify characteristics that affect a building's probability to suffer flooding and evaluate their influence. The study uses Google Street View to examine 1073 buildings known to have flooded after an extreme precipitation event in 2013 in Athens, Greece and to compare them with characteristics of buildings that did not experience flooding. Using logistic regression, this work investigates the influence of these elements. Results show that certain characteristics of buildings increase their probability to flood up to 4.1 times. The study develops an equation involving all influential elements able to predict the buildings that will suffer flooding on a 77% rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Southeast of Yogyakarta City has had the heaviest damages to buildings in the 2006 of Yogyakarta Earthquake disaster. A moderate to strong earthquake of 6.3 Mw shook the 20 km southeast part of the Yogyakarta City early in the morning at 5:54 local time. On top of extensive damage in Yogyakarta and Central Java, more than 5700 people perished; 37,927 people were injured in the collapse of more than 240,396 residential buildings. Furthermore, the earthquake also affected the infrastructure and local economic activities. The total damages and losses because of the earthquake was 29.1 trillion rupiahs or equal to approximately 3.1 million US dollar. Two main factors that caused the severe damages were a dense population and the lack of seismic design of residential buildings. After reconstruction and rehabilitation, the area where the study was conducted grew into a densely populated area. This urbanistic change is feared to be potentially the lead to a great disaster if an earthquake occurs again. Thus, a comprehensive study about building vulnerability is absolutely needed in study area. Therefore, the main objective of this study has been the provision of a probabilistic model of seismic building vulnerability based on the damage data of the last big earthquake. By considering the relationship between building characteristics, site conditions, and the damage level based on probabilistic analysis, this study can offer a better understanding of earthquake damage estimation for residential building in Java. Results: The main findings of this study were as follows: The most vulnerable building type is the reinforced masonry structure with clay tile roof, it is located between 8.1-10 km of the epicentre and it is built on young Merapi volcanic deposits. On the contrary, the safest building type is the houses which has characteristics of reinforced masonry structure, asbestos or zinc roof type, and being located in Semilir Formation. The results showed that the building damage probability provided a high accuracy of prediction about 75.81%. Conclusions: The results explain the prediction of building vulnerability based on the building damaged of the Yogyakarta earthquake 2006. This study is suitable for preliminary study at the region scale. Thus, the site investigation still needs to be conducted for the future research to determine the safety and vulnerability of residential building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic loss estimation analysis for large cities is a very demanding yet necessary task; the modelling of such complex systems requires first of all insightful input data at good resolution, referring to local effects, buildings and socio-economic aspects. Also, the implementation of less empirical estimation methods is needed. Until recently, these requirements could not be fulfilled for Bucharest, the capital city in the European Union which is most at risk due to earthquakes. Based on 2011 and 2002 census data, standardized according to the framework of the Near-real time System for Estimating the Seismic Damage in Romania (SeisDaRo) through a unique approach, and on relevant hazard scenarios, we estimate for the first time the building damage at census tract scale. The methodology applied relies on 48 vulnerability curves for buildings, on the Improved Displacement Coefficient Analytical Method included in the SELENA software for computing damage probabilities and on deterministic seismic hazard scenarios, including the maximum possible earthquake. By using overlay analysis with satellite imagery and a new methodology integrated in GIS we show how results can be enhanced, reflecting more localized characteristics. Best practices for seismic risk mapping are also expressed. The results are promising and contribute to mitigation efforts in Bucharest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vulnerability assessment, as a component of the consequence analysis, represents a fundamental stage in the risk assessment process because it relates the hazard intensity to the characteristics of the built environment that make it susceptible to damage and loss. The objective of this work is to develop a quantitative methodology for vulnerability and loss assessment of buildings exposed to debris flows and apply it to a study area in NE Italy at local and regional scale. Using existing conceptual models of vulnerability and loss, this paper seeks to identify solutions for maximizing the information gained from limited observational damage data and a heterogeneous building data set. Two vulnerability models are proposed: Model 1 is based on the generation of empirical vulnerability curves using observed intensities; Model 2 takes into account multiple resistance characteristics of buildings and uses modeled debris flow intensities. The process intensity descriptor in both cases is debris flow height. The vulnerability values obtained with the local (Model 1) and regional (Model 2) models are further multiplied with the building value to calculate the minimum and maximum loss for each building in the study area. Loss is also expressed as cumulative probability calculated with Model 1 using a Monte Carlo sampling technique. The methodology is applied in the Fella River valley (northeastern Italian Alps), a region prone to multiple mountain hazards. Uncertainties are expressed as minimum and maximum values of vulnerability, market values and loss. The results are compared with relevant published vulnerability curves and historical damage reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reviewed, assessed, enhanced and field-tested one of the most widely used index-based methods for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunamis: the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability Assessment ( PTVA) model. The review and assessment were undertaken through a participatory survey process engaging authors of scientific literature during 2005-2015 in the field of building vulnerability to tsunamis. Expert respondents updated the weights of the PTVA building vulnerability attributes based on their expertise and insights from the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami. The respondents were also free to suggest additional PTVA building attributes and to provide open comments on the model. We then analysed the outcomes of the questionnaire and we used them to generate a new improved version of the model, the PTVA-4, which we field-tested in the area of Botany Bay (Sydney), New South Wales. Using a cohort of over 2000 buildings and a tsunami scenario numerically simulated using state-of-the-art hydrodynamic modelling techniques, we applied the PTVA-4 model and compared the outcomes against its predecessor (i.e. the PTVA-3). Results showed the PTVA-4 model is significantly more accurate and more sensitive to variations in the tsunami demand parameter, the attributes of the exposed buildings and their surroundings. The PTVA-4 model is the first tool of its kind to integrate the judgment of specialised scientists worldwide. It constitutes a viable option to assess the vulnerability of buildings in areas where no tsunami vulnerability curves have been developed yet, or to consider the contribution to vulnerability given by a significantly wider range of building engineering and physical attributes. An ArcGIS toolbox that automatically calculates the relative vulnerability of buildings using the new PTVA-4 model is attached to this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the performance of residential buildings in the town of Hveragerði in South Iceland during the 29 May 2008 Mw 6.3 Ölfus Earthquake. The earthquake occurred very close to the town, approximately 3-4 km from it. Ground shaking caused by the earthquake was recorded by a dense strong-motion array in the town. The array provided high-quality three-component ground acceleration data which is used to quantify a hazard scenario. In addition, surveys conducted in the town in the aftermath of the earthquake have provided information on macroseismic intensity at various locations in the town. Detailed information regarding the building stock in the town is collected, and their seismic vulnerability models are created by using building damage data obtained from the June 2000 South Iceland earthquakes. Damage to buildings are then simulated by using the scenario hazard and vulnerability models. Damage estimates were also obtained by conducting a survey. Simulated damage based on the scenario macroseismic intensity is found to be similar to damage estimated from survey data. The buildings performed very well during the earthquake-damage suffered was only 5 % of the insured value on the average. Correlation between actual damage and recorded ground-motion parameters is found to be statistically insignificant. No significant correlation of damage was observed, even with macroseismic intensity. Whereas significant correlation was observed between peak ground velocity and macroseismic intensity, neither of them appear to be good indicators of damage to buildings in the study area. This lack of correlation is partly due to good seismic capacity of buildings and partly due to the ordinal nature of macroseismic intensity scale. Consistent with experience from many past earthquakes, the survey results indicate that seismic risk in South Iceland is not so much due to collapse of buildings but rather due to damage to non-structural components and building contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]