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The new doctor from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) José Luis Ródenas Quiñonero has analyzed with different methodologies the seismic risk of 364 Lorca buildings, chosen as a homogeneous sample of a total of 1,050 buildings damaged, until obtaining the index of vulnerability that is most Approximate the real damages observed after the earthquake of 2011.

The proposed new method for reinforced concrete buildings introduces as key variables the level of the seismic code with which the buildings were built, their number of floors and the existence or not of a seismic joint between adjacent buildings, as explained by the thesis directors , Antonio Tomás Espín and Salvador García-Ayllón, professors of the Department of Civil Engineering of the UPCT.

The antiquity of the buildings demonstrated in the earthquake lorquino to be a fundamental variable, since the 54.3% of the buildings constructed before 1963 registered a high damage as opposed to the 7.4% seriously damaged between the blocks of houses after 1995, according to Collects the thesis, "the first that generically implements the available database of damages from the earthquake of Lorca," says Tomás Espín, researcher responsible for the research group Structural Engineering and Technology (STRENGTH).

Ródenas Quiñonero has georeferenced on the map of Lorca the different levels of vulnerability of hundreds of buildings to define possible scenarios of damage used Geographic Information Systems and thus be able to "plan and manage in a detailed and preventive manner the actions in case of seismic emergency", Argues

"Aspects such as the identification of the most vulnerable areas, where to concentrate resources in the first hours after the earthquake, the selection of the most recommended location for the base camps and the reception of civilians, evacuation routes and communication Safe, can be thoroughly evaluated through the application of these methods, "the investigator.

According to the new methodology proposed by the author, the neighborhoods with buildings with greater risk were La Viña and Cristo-Rey, precisely those most affected by the earthquakes.

The risk map of buildings can be combined with microzoning studies, such as that carried out by UPCT researchers for the City of Lorca.

The mere observation of the data on the map explains that the neighborhood of San Fernando, with vulnerable properties and soft soils, had to be demolished after the earthquake.

Source: UPCT