The simplicity, timeliness, and reliability of a post-earthquake assessment are fundamental for decision-makers in emergency management. An adequate risk assessment will help during the recovery and, therefore, increases the resilience of the community. Although within this context, the walk-down damage survey with the correct filling of evaluation forms and use of processing-data tools make possible a pertinent post-earthquake assessment, it is desirable to have measurable parameters that can complement the visual field evaluation with quantitative information. In some cases, basic quantitative measures, such as crack width, are not enough to make pertinent structural damage assessments. This article presents a fast and simple methodology to estimate the median maximum displacement and plastic energy demands on simple single-degree-of-freedom systems from the residual displacement they exhibit after being subjected to ground motions generated in the lakebed zone of Mexico City. Based on this, a discussion is offered on how a post-earthquake assessment can be improved by complementing the visual and measured information gathered on an existing structural system after an intense ground motion, with estimates of its maximum and cumulative plastic deformation demands derived from its residual deformation.
A destructive intraslab earthquake occurred in Mexico City on September 19, 2017 (Mw 7.1), causing significant damage and hundreds of human losses not only in the epicentral area, but also in the States of Morelos, Puebla, Mexico and in Mexico City. Only in Mexico City itself, around 230 people died, and more than 40 buildings collapsed. The intensities recorded in some lakebed areas of the city, especially in zones with soil periods around 1.5 s, were relatively high, even surpassing spectral values of 1.0 g; the vertical component, due to the proximity of the earthquake, was unusually high for Mexico City. The 2017 earthquake raised questions critical to understanding the city’s seismic vulnerability and resilience, and they are partly answered in this article. Using 77 accelerometric stations, the amplification pattern of the seismic intensities is characterized as well as the correlations of buildings structural characteristics with the site effects. A comprehensive statistical analysis of the damages is shown to analyze and understand the structural behavior of damaged buildings. It is including not only the structural types and the year of construction, but also the main structural problems identified (structural pathologies), such as irregularities, both in elevation and plan, soft story, and corner effect. The building damage database was constructed with 2125 reports of buildings carried out by universities and engineering associations after the earthquake, of which 543 had severe damage. It is also included the information of all buildings with no damage in the city thanks to the cadastral information provided by the Mexico City government, and post-earthquake inspections and visual inspections using Google Street View. A full study of selected neighborhoods, which compares similar buildings with and without damage, is included, yielding relevant statistical information on which pathologies cause more damage and even collapses.
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