Assessment of Damage Progression in Corner Buildings with Infill Walls During an Intraplate Earthquake in Mexico

On 19 September 2017, an intraplate earthquake with a magnitude of Mw = 7.1 occurred in Mexico. Visual inspection reports following the earthquake indicated that 11% of high-risk structures and 35% of collapsed buildings were situated at block corners in Mexico City. This study analyzes the statistics on corner buildings damaged by the 2017 earthquake. Three numerical models of reinforced concrete buildings were developed, featuring four, six, and eight floors with a waffle flat slab floor system. The study focuses on collapsed corner buildings and examines their seismic responses using a series of real unscaled accelerograms from the 19 September 2017 earthquake recorded at seismic stations near these buildings. The nonlinear dynamic analysis showed that seismic demands are concentrated at the more flexible corners of buildings with plan stiffness irregularity, which may result in a collapse at drift ratios lower than those required for more regular structures, indicating low seismic resilience. The study analyzed the progression of seismic demands and damage to corner buildings throughout the 19 September 2017 earthquake, allowing for a numerical verification of the observed damages. Damage indices and the distribution of seismic demands on the buildings clearly correlated with the observed partial and total collapses during the earthquake.

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