Rapid seismic evaluation of historic brick-masonry buildings in Vienna (Austria) based on visual screening

The present paper addresses seismic assessment of historic brick-masonry buildings located in the city of Vienna based on rapid-visual-screening (RVS). The RVS methodology has been adopted for this specific type of buildings considering their consistent typology and consequently enhancing the validity and quality of the seismic assessment. In this context, structure-relevant parameters such as regularity of the inspected building, its state of preservation and geometry are evaluated. Additionally, the human and economic impact of earthquake-induced damage on the object is integrated assessing damage relevant factors such as the number of exposed persons and the importance of the object for the public. Based on the derived score of each of these two sets of parameters the inspected building is classified into one of four vulnerability classes. Furthermore, the damage potential of a seismic event comparable with the L’Aquila 2009 earthquake is predicted correlating the results of the RVS methodology and damage grades according to EMS-98. In a large-scale in-situ investigation a set of 375 buildings within the 20th district of Vienna was seismically assessed. The resulting maps of damage scenarios give useful information for emergency and evacuation planning as well as for identification of critical objects vulnerable to seismic loading.