Seismic risk assessment and hazard mapping in Nepal

Chaulagain, Hemchandra; Rodrigues, Hugo; Silva, Vítor; Spacone, Enrico; Varum, Humberto

doi:10.1007/s11069-015-1734-6

Cited by 92 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Just to give some reference acceleration values in Nepal, the 500-year return period PGAs are in the range of 0.22-0.50 g, as per the results of the hazard analysis developed by Chaulagain et al (2015). These values are consistent with the prescriptions of the Nepal National Building Code, NBC 105 (1994).…”

Section: In-plane Seismic Analysis Of a Bhatar Wallsupporting

confidence: 70%

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How Can Vernacular Construction Techniques Sustain Earthquakes: The Case of the Bhatar Buildings

Carabbio

Pieraccini

Silvestri

et al. 2018

Front. Built Environ.

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After the 2005 M7.6 Kashmir earthquake (Pakistan), field observations reported that several buildings manufactured with local traditional techniques resisted well to that strong seismic event. In this paper, the attention is focused on a typical vernacular construction technique commonly named as "Bhatar," still practiced in the Himalayan regions of India and Pakistan. It is grounded upon the "timber lacing" or "timber reinforcement masonry" concept, i.e., the combination of dry-stacked loose stones with timber beams to increase the wall confinement. Despite its good seismic performances, it has still not been deeply studied from a structural engineering point of view. This paper represents a first attempt to fill this gap. It presents a full analytical study on the structural behavior of a simple one-storey building unit characterized by a 3.6 m × 3.6 m square plan covered by a heavy wooden roof with 20-cm-thick earth coverage, in order to investigate its response under gravity and seismic inertial loadings. Materials properties, static analysis, and seismic analysis are discussed. In detail, Shorea Robusta wood and limestone rocks are identified as the most used construction materials for the Bhatar buildings. The Barton's model is applied to characterize the shear strength of the rubble stone layers in the wall. Static analysis reveals that normal stresses at the ground level are around 92 kPa, which can be considered acceptable for common soils. With respect to earthquake, the Bhatar technique can absorb wall cracking and distortion mechanisms, and can dissipate energy through friction between stones. Under the assumption of no vertical ground motion, the acceleration which activates in-plane sliding mechanisms is found to be around 0.5 g, being dependent on the interface friction between adjacent layers. Some preliminary considerations about the out-of-plane seismic behavior are also provided concerning overturning and bending failure mechanisms. The results are based on assumptions taken by several authors and have not been verified with experimental tests. Nevertheless, some practical suggestions can be derived to improve the seismic shear strength and to ensure friction also in the case of significant vertical component of earthquake ground motions.

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Section: In-plane Seismic Analysis Of a Bhatar Wallsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…On the other hand, Himalayan regions present a significant seismic activity (Chaulagain et al, 2015) and the "weight issues" concerning Bhatar are not negligible due to the significant mass of walls and roof. Nonetheless, Bhatar buildings are known to have a strong resistance to seismic forces (Langenbach, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Can Vernacular Construction Techniques Sustain Earthquakes: The Case of the Bhatar Buildings

Carabbio

Pieraccini

Silvestri

et al. 2018

Front. Built Environ.

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“…complete collapse equivalent to Grade 5) of vulnerable masonry buildings tends to saturate above MSK VII-VIII (Ambraseys and Douglas 2004) equivalent to 7-8 EMS given the prevalent building types in the mountainous regions of Nepal (e.g. mud-bonded brick or stone masonry; Chaulagain et al 2015). Shaking severity of 8 EMS, for example, corresponds to widespread moderate damage to reinforced cement concrete buildings without earthquake resistant design.…”

Section: Macroseismic Data From the Gorkha And Dolakha Earthquakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of observed and predicted ground motions from the 2015 MW7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake

et al. 2016

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We use 21 strong motion recordings from Nepal and India for the 25 April 2015 moment magnitude (M W ) 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake together with the extensive macroseismic intensity data set presented by Martin et al. (Seism Res Lett 87:957-962, 2015) to analyse the distribution of ground motions at near-field and regional distances. We show that the data are consistent with the instrumental peak ground acceleration (PGA) versus macroseismic intensity relationship developed by Worden et al. (Bull Seism Soc Am 102:204-221, 2012), and use this relationship to estimate peak ground acceleration from intensities (PGA EMS ). For nearest-fault distances (R RUP \ 200 km), PGA EMS is Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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“…i. Incorporation of scientific researches for improvement and preparedness are practiced in Nepal till date. For example: the seismic hazard assessment by Chaulagain et al [15]) depicts the possibility of higher hazard level near the epicenter of 2015 Gorkha earthquake, apart from this, Chaulagain et al [13]) delineated the high vulnerability of non-engineered to poorly engineered masonry structures however no attentions were paid for such findings. Similarly, the seismic loss estimated by Chaulagain et al [16]) and site effects and structural damage analysis performed by Gautam and Chamlagain [27]) and Gautam et al [30]) significantly correlate the damage pattern and losses along with damage distribution during 2015 Gorkha earthquake.…”

Section: Earthquakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural performance and associated lessons to be learned from world earthquakes in Nepal after 25 April 2015 (MW 7.8) Gorkha earthquake

Gautam¹,

Chaulagain²

2016

Engineering Failure Analysis

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Seismic risk assessment and hazard mapping in Nepal

Cited by 92 publications

References 34 publications

How Can Vernacular Construction Techniques Sustain Earthquakes: The Case of the Bhatar Buildings

How Can Vernacular Construction Techniques Sustain Earthquakes: The Case of the Bhatar Buildings

A comparison of observed and predicted ground motions from the 2015 MW7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake

Structural performance and associated lessons to be learned from world earthquakes in Nepal after 25 April 2015 (MW 7.8) Gorkha earthquake

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