Collapse rates of reinforced concrete structures during large magnitude earthquakes: case study for Romania

This case study focuses on the evaluation of the collapse rates of various types of reinforced concrete structures (residential and industrial) as observed from the data collected in Romania after the Mw 7.4 Vrancea earthquake of March 4, 1977. The results of the analyses show that the largest collapse rates were attributed to elevated reinforced concrete silos and water tanks. Moreover, the majority of the collapsed elevated reinforced concrete water tanks were full at the moment of the seismic event. Very small collapse rates were observed for high-rise residential RC structures and for the multi-storey industrial RC structures.