Performance of masonry buildings during the November 26, 2019 Albania earthquake (Mw 6.4) and December 29, 2020 Petrinja earthquake (Mw 6.4)

Abstract

In the period of one year, several moderate intensity earthquakes occurred in the Balkan Peninsula. It is interesting that among four significant earthquakes in this period of time, two with the same magnitude (Mw 6.4) occurred. The first was on November 26, 2019 in Albania and second one on December 29, 2020 Petrinja (Croatia). Both events were quite devastating for the building stock in the epicentral area. Since most of the buildings in Balkan Peninsula are masonry buildings (single or multi-family apartments), this paper focuses on the performance of these buildings during the mentioned earthquakes. Quickly after both events, Serbian Association for Earthquake Engineering (SUZI-SAEE) organized an expert teams to visit affected areas. The goal was to document the consequences of the earthquakes on the built environment, as well as to provide support in damage assessment. Data collected during the visits is usded investigate the performance of masonry buildings. Most common types of failure are presented, pointing out the deficiencies in the behaviour of masonry structures. However, examples of good behaviour (mostly related to the well-constructed confined masonry buildings) are also presented.