1st Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering 1CroCEE 2021

To assess the consequences of an earthquake on building stock, it is essential to know the predominant building types, their distribution, prevalent local construction practices, and their performance in past earthquakes. The rapid assessment takes place within the first days after the occurrence of the major earthquake. It aims at fast identification of safe usage of buildings after an earthquake. The usual classification of buildings is ″safe for use/slight structural damage″, ″unsafe for use/moderate structural damage″, ″dangerous for use/heavy structural damage″, with associated colors: green, yellow, and red. The present study aims to present the assessment process and situation in Croatia after the earthquake in Zagreb.
The main characteristic of Croatian buildings stock is represented by using traditional constructional techniques and materials, such as masonry and timber. Buildings were constructed with no consideration for seismic shaking. After the earthquake in Zagreb, around 26.000 buildings were damaged, and this particularly applies to masonry buildings. It should be mentioned that a whole city center is under cultural heritage protection.
In the paper, immediate actions, challenges, decision-making processes after the earthquake, and a detailed evaluation of one building will be shown. As a lot of educational buildings were severely damaged, the chosen case study is the building of one of the faculties of the University of Zagreb. Preliminary rapid post-earthquake damage assessment will be compared with the detailed inspection of the building. Basic on-site non-destructive methods will be followed by numerical modeling and conclusions on the usability of the structure.