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Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment of Schools and Colleges of Sylhet, a North-eastern City of Bangl

Corresponding Author : M. Ahmed (mushtaq_cee@yahoo.com)

Authors : K. M. Khaleduzzaman , Nure Alam Siddique , S. Islam

Keywords : Earthquake, Vulnerability Assessmen, Turkish Method, Sylhet City, School and College

Abstract :

Sylhet, the north-eastern divisional city of Bangladesh, is one of the most earthquake prone areas of the country. In this paper, seismic vulnerability of the educational institutions of Sylhet city has been assessed. Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) and Modified Turkish Method have been used to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the existing school and college buildings of the city. More than fifty schools and colleges have been surveyed with an objective to identify the most vulnerable buildings, so that retrofitting measures can be conducted easily. The field observation including soil condition, zone type, apparent quality and structural state has been reported. After the walk down evaluation, preliminary assessment is carried out as it is essential for final structural and non-structural evaluation. From the study it was found that, 7.55%, 9.31% and 11.36% surveyed buildings are highly vulnerable to earthquake when existence of any fault is within 9-15 km, 5-8 km and less than 4 km respectively from the position of the building. At the end of the paper, some recommendations have been provided that might be followed to minimize structural damage of existing school and college buildings.

Published on December 30th, 2012 in Volume 19, Issue 2, Applied Sciences and Technology