Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Ahmedabad City

Abstract eng:
This paper presents the results of a study on seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete frame buildings with brick masonry infill walls as prevailing in Ahmedabad city in India in the year 2001. The study is based on the damage data of about 3,000 buildings in Ahmedabad following the 2001 Bhuj (magnitude 7.7) earthquake. The city experienced ground shaking of intensity VII (on MSK scale) during the earthquake and about 130 multistorey buildings collapsed in Ahmedabad, killing 805 persons. The study compares damage distribution in Ahmedabad with that specified by the ATC 13 (1985) document entitled “Earthquake damage evaluation data for California”. A parallel was established between the damage classification adopted in the ATC 13 document and that adopted during the survey in Ahmedabad. The damage data of buildings in Ahmedabad (due to shaking intensity VII) came closest to ATC-13 data for non-ductile RC frame buildings for shaking intensity VIII in terms of mean and median damage factors. The number of severely damaged and collapsed buildings (and hence the casualties) for Ahmedabad buildings was significantly higher than what is estimated by the ATC method even with using an increased shaking intensity of one level. Hence, Ahmedabad buildings in 2001 were clearly far more vulnerable than the normal non-ductile buildings envisaged in ATC-13. The study implies high seismic vulnerability of building constructions in India in general, even though there may have been some improvement in the design and construction practices in Ahmedabad and in rest of India since 2001.

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