Effect of Spatial Variation of Earthquake Ground Motions on Seismic Vulnerability of Urban Road Network Considering Building Environment

Evaluating the seismic damage of urban road infrastructure systems is of vital importance in reducing the earthquake hazard risk of cities. Urban road infrastructure systems are commonly represented as a spatial network that covers the whole city, and in its seismic damage analysis the spatial variation of earthquake ground motions cannot be ignored. However, the effect of the spatial variation of ground motions on the seismic vulnerability of urban road networks is unknown. In this article, based on the case study on Datong, China, it is shown that the spatially variation of ground motions may increase the damage risk of urban road networks and should be considered in the seismic vulnerability analysis. This was achieved by developing a method to evaluate the performance of a post-earthquake road network considering the structural damage of road components and the building environment. This work is anticipated to be a starting point for more sophisticated studies on the earthquake risk analysis of spatially extended urban lifeline systems.

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