Analysis of seismic parameters for the earthquake vulnerability assessment of Nusretiye (Tophane) Clock Tower

Abstract

In this study, we have investigated the impacts of hazardous earthquakes on the Nusretiye Clock Tower which is one of the historical heritages located in the city of İstanbul. We analyzed the seismicity of the region and performed nonlinear dynamic analyses under real and artificial ground motion data set to contribute to protecting this cultural heritage and its transmission to future generations. To calculate the seismicity parameters (b-values, a-values, Magnitude of completeness) of the region, we have collected a current catalogue in the Marmara region whose coordinate range is 26 0 -31 0 E longitudes and 40 0 -42 0 N latitudes. The current catalogue is constructed from 15 April 1905 to 31 December 2020. A complete set of 29223 earthquakes of Md ≥ 1 obtained from Bogazici University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Regional Earthquake-Tsunami Monitoring Center. In the light of the nonlinear dynamic analysis results, masonry tower is significantly vulnerable to suffer strong damage or collapse in an earthquake with a return period of 2475 years.