Dual Approach to Large-Scale Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Churches Through Representative Archetypes

In this paper, the seismic vulnerability of churches is assessed using different methods characterized by different levels of complexity depending on the accuracy of the results to be achieved. Specifically, we compare the two main types of methodologies applied in the literature, namely, empirical and analytical methods. Empirical methods assess seismic vulnerability based on engineering judgements. In this study, these evaluations were carried out through an automatic tool, the MACHRO form, which was introduced in the past by the authors with the purpose of making evaluations as objective as possible. Analytical methods evaluate the vulnerability of a stock of churches through linear and nonlinear kinematic analyses performed for the most vulnerable macro-elements, which are treated by means of mechanical models. When the number of churches in the stock is huge, this type of evaluation might prove unfeasible. For this reason, churches are grouped into a manageable number of archetypes in order to be analyzed. The above-described methodologies were applied to a relevant number of churches, aiming to appraise discrepancies in terms of results and highlight advantages and drawbacks of their application.