Urban non-engineered buildings in Merida, Venezuela. Seismic performance and proposals for retrofit and for new construction

摘要

The seismic risk for an informal settlement in Mérida (“La Milagrosa”) is qualitatively assessed and retrofit strategies are\udproposed. The buildings in the settlement are thoroughly examined and four prototype buildings are chosen to represent\udthe vast majority of houses in “La Milagrosa”. The structural behavior of these buildings under gravity loads and seismic\udactions is deeply analyzed; this study shows that the prototype buildings are unsafe for gravity loads, and that the seismic\uddemands largely exceed their capacity. Based on these conclusions, feasible retrofit strategies are proposed, together with\uddraft recommendations for new similar constructions. Earlier quantitative estimative appraisals show that the proposed\udseismic strengthening measures can be very effective in reducing fatalities and economical losses, and are significantly\udmore cost-efficient than reconstruction-based approaches. These conclusions might be generalized to many non-engineered\udurban areas in earthquake-prone regions of the developing world.