Summary of the surveys
On May 9th to 12th , 24 technicians from Italian universities and centers of expertise and 11 technicians from METU or TED Universities in Ankara, carried out surveys on 204 school buildings (primary and secondary schools) located in the areas of Hatay, Maras, Antep and Adana provinces. Technicians were organized into 7 working groups inspecting the different areas. Out of the total 204 buildings, 190 buildings were fully inspected, while the remaining 14 buildings were found to have been demolished (10 buildings) or unified (4 buildings).
Fig. 1 is shown the entire sample of buildings under study located within the seismic shake maps published by USGS related to: the event of February 6th, 2023 at 01:17:34 (UTC), magnitude Mw=7.8 (Fig. 1a), event of February 6th, 2023 at 10:24:48 (UTC), magnitude Mw=7.5 (Fig. 1b), event of February 20th, 2023 at 17:04:29 (UTC), magnitude Mw=6.3 (Fig. 1c). Fig.1d shows the distribution of inspected buildings, and the percentage, in relation to 8 PGA intervals, each of 0.1g amplitude. In that diagram, the maximum PGA inferred from the three shaking maps is taken as the reference PGA for each building.
Fig. 1. Positions of the inspected school buildings plotted against the PGA shake map of the Mw7.8 February 6th 2023 shock (a); the Mw7.5 February 6th shock (b); the Mw6.3 February 20th shock (c); number and percentage of buildings falling under each PGA interval (d).
Fig. 2. Retrofit works, still in progress just before the seismic event hit: excavation to foundation level for the needed upgrade in bearing capacity (a), removal of masonry partition in preparation for the addition of an RC wall and its integration into the surrounding frame (b, c).
After the inspection phase, a second phase of cataloging and data analysis is ongoing, which will be followed by a subsequent phase of more in-depth studies on individual cases to understand the seismic behavior of the surveyed buildings, focusing on the effectiveness of the implemented seismic retrofit techniques.
The field reconnaissance mission carried out in Turkey once again confirmed that the inspection and investigation activities following the occurrence of medium-high intensity seismic events represent an essential tool to understand the behavior of existing structures, for analysis and assessment of the related criticalities, and for the definition of future actions aimed at mitigating seismic risk.
Field experience is also essential for the growth and training of young technicians and for educating future generations on the importance of risk awareness and mitigation.
Working group ReLUIS – EUCENTRE – METU – TEDU. End-of-mission dinner.
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