1st Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering 1CroCEE 2021

Following the M=6.4 earthquake that hit Durres in Albania on 26.11.2019, at the request of the Government of the Republic of Albania to the Government of R.N. Macedonia, in coordination with the deputy Prime Minister of the Government of R. N. Macedonia and the Director of the Bureau for Forensic Expertise of the R. N. Macedonia as operational coordinator, teams of experts were established for assistance and support to the local teams in rapid assessment on the structural safety of damaged buildings in the most affected areas. The Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology - IZIIS (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje) was leading the Macedonian mission with four teams composed of 11 experts. The methodology used in the rapid assessment was proposed by the Directorate of the European Commission for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO – UCPM). In the period 2.12-13.12.2019, expert teams from IZIIS went to Albania and along with local engineers, inspected and made rapid assessment of a total of 169 structures in the territory of Durres and Shijak. Most of the structures that were the subject of inspection were residential, mainly constructed as reinforced concrete structure and flat-slab systems prior the year 2000. Most of these structures suffered major nonstructural damage with negligible structural damages and extensive repairable structural damages. The cause of incurred damages was inconsistent application of recent knowledge in design, construction, and control of earthquake resistant structures. Structural errors in design and construction as well as inappropriate quality of built-in materials have been observed. In order to define corresponding technical solutions for repair and strengthening, especially for the vital structures, it is necessary to take additional measures as detailed engineering inspection and science-based analysis.