Research Conducted at University of Minho Has Provided New Information about Disaster Risk Reduction (Use of Post-earthquake Damage Data To Calibrate, Validate and Compare Two Seismic Vulnerability Assessment Methods for Vernacular Architecture)

2019 OCT 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Politics, Law & Government Daily -- New research on Disaster Risk Reduction is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating in Guimaraes, Portugal, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The paper presents and discusses the application of two large scale seismic vulnerability assessment methods on the island of Faial in Azores (Portugal). The two methods are specifically conceived to assess the seismic vulnerability of vernacular architecture.”

Financial supporters for this research include FEDER funds through the Competitivity and Internationalization Operational Programme - COMPETE, FCT Foundation for Science and Technology.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Minho, “The first method follows a classical seismic vulnerability index approach and is referred as SVIVA (Seismic Vulnerability Index for Vernacular Architecture). The second method is referred as SAVVAS (Seismic Assessment of the Vulnerability of Vernacular Architecture Structures) and it is a numerical tool intended to estimate the seismic capacity of vernacular buildings in terms of seismic load factors associated with different structural damage limit states. The main reason behind the selection of Faial Island as a case study was the availability of post-earthquake reports of the building stock after the 1998 Azores earthquake, which allowed comparing the damage scenarios obtained using both methods with the post-earthquake damage data and thus helped for the calibration and validation of the two methods. The application of both methods led to a good fit between estimated versus observed damage grades, which validated their applicability as large-scale first level approaches.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Moreover, as the main outcome, the paper presents the novelties of the SAVVAS method, which had not been applied before, and discusses its main advantages, namely: no need for calibration with previous post-earthquake damage data, an enhancement of the prediction capabilities, a more individualized evaluation of the buildings and the possibility to assess the seismic performance of the building in different loading directions.”

For more information on this research see: Use of Post-earthquake Damage Data To Calibrate, Validate and Compare Two Seismic Vulnerability Assessment Methods for Vernacular Architecture. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2019;39():. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-disaster-risk-reduction/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J. Ortega, University of Minho, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Isise, Campus Azurem, P-4800058 Guimaraes, Portugal. Additional authors for this research include G. Vasconcelos, T.M. Ferreira, H. Rodrigues, M. Correia and R. Vicente.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101242. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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