The Mexico Earthquake of September 19, 1985—Ductility and Resistance Requirements Imposed on a Concrete Building

This paper describes the study of a twelve floor concrete building with a waffle slab system located 300 meters from the accelerometer at Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (S.C.T) in Mexico City. First, the reduced seismic coefficient associated with the failure of the critical story is calculated by a linear dynamic analysis which reproduces the damage provoked by the 1985 earthquake to the real structure. Second, the ductility factor associated with the damaged stories is obtained through a step-by-step non-linear dynamic analysis. Finally, the peak value of the S.C.T. maximum ordinate for spectral response corresponding to 5 percent of critical damping was determined from this analysis.