Seismic risk and damage prediction: case of the buildings in Constantine city (Algeria)

• Published in: Bulletin of earthquake engineering Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 2683 - 2704
• Main Authors: Boukri, Mehdi, Farsi, Mohammed Naboussi, Mebarki, Ahmed, Belazougui, Mohamed, Amellal, Omar, Mezazigh, Brahim, Guessoum, Nabila, Bourenane, Hamid, Benhamouche, Azzedine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-12-2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Algeria; Applied sciences; Building failures (cracks, physical changes, etc.); Building foundations; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Civil Engineering; Computation methods. Tables. Charts; Damage; Durability. Pathology. Repairing. Maintenance; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Earthquake damage; Earthquakes; Economics; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Engineering Sciences; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Exact sciences and technology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Geotechnics; Hydrogeology; Inhabitants; Mathematical models; Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc; Original Research Paper; Population density; Risk assessment; Seismic activity; Seismic hazard; Seismic phenomena; Seismic response; Seismology; Structural analysis. Stresses; Structural Geology; Structure-soil interaction; Algeria; Africa; Seismic risk; Constantine; Hazus; Algerian code; Damage; Earthquake scenario; Cartography; Script; Buildings; Risk analysis; Forecast model; Modeling; Case study; Failure analysis; Inventory
• ISSN: 1570-761X; 1573-1456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10518-014-9594-0

Located at the North-Eastern part of Algeria (Tellian Atlas), Constantine has crucial administrative, economic, scientific and cultural importance. It has continuously experienced significant urban evolutions during the different periods of its history. The city is located in an active seismic region within Algeria and has been struck in the past by several moderate and strong earthquakes. The strongest earthquake recorded since the beginning of instrumental seismology took place on October 27, 1985 with a magnitude M
S
=
5.9. Constantine presents a high seismic risk, because of its dense housing and high population density (2,374 inhabitants/km
2
)
. This requires a risk assessment in order to take preventive measures and reduce the losses in case of potential major earthquake. For this purpose, a scenario based approach is considered. The building damage assessment methodology adopted for the Algerian context is adapted from HAZUS approach. In the present case, the effective Algerian seismic code response spectrum (RPA 99/2003) is considered as a seismic hazard model. The prediction of the expected damages is performed for a set of almost 29,000 buildings.