ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Existing structures located in the Central United States (US) near the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) are at risk of being damaged during a potential seismic event. In particular, a significant seismic event affecting a densely populated area, such as the city of Memphis, Tennessee, could lead to severe damage and significant economic losses. In this study, a scenariobased assessment is conducted for moderate to high intensity earthquakes in this region. Three scenario earthquake magnitudes from moderate to high (5.5, 6.5, and 7.5) are used to provide a better understanding of the expected losses due to different seismic hazard levels. The buildings considered are typical Reinforced Concrete (RC) moment frame buildings in this region. Fragility curves that have been recently developed by Bai et al. (2010) using story-specific demand models are used to represent the seismic vulnerability of the buildings. Story-specific demand models provide a refined approach that includes more building response information than typical demand models, allowing for more accurate estimates of the seismic fragility of multi-story buildings (Bai et al., 2010). When only the maximum interstory drift of a building is considered, as is the case for traditional fragility curve development, the fragility tends to be underestimated; particularly if the interstory drifts for one or more stories are close to the maximum value. A probabilistic framework to assess the structural damage of the selected buildings is used to account for the prevailing uncertainties.
