Seismic Risk Assessment of New Zealand Unreinforced Masonry Churches using Statistical Procedures

The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence provided extensive evidence of the significant seismic vulnerability of New Zealand unreinforced masonry (URM) churches. Given the high seismicity of the country, the exposure of human lives and the societal significance of ecclesiastic buildings, for both historical and religious reasons, the reduction in seismic vulnerability of this building type is of primary importance. By analyzing the seismic performance of a sample of 80 affected buildings, regression models correlating mean damage levels against ground-motion parameters were developed for observed collapse mechanisms, accounting for vulnerability modifiers whose influence was estimated via statistical procedures. Considering the homogeneity of New Zealand URM churches, the vulnerability models developed for the Canterbury region were extended to the whole country inventory, and a synthetic index was proposed to summarise damage related to several mechanisms. Territorial scale assessment of the seismic vulnerability of churches can assist emergency management efforts and facilitate the identification of priorities for more in-depth analysis of individual buildings. After proper calibration, the proposed approach can be applied to other countries with similar building heritage.