SEISMIC VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF BUILDINGS IN QUETTA

Abstract

Quetta is the largest city and the capital of Baluchistan province with a population of over 2.8 million. The city plays a crucial role in economy of Pakistan and provides a significant contribution to country’s growth and development. It lies in seismic Zone 4 which is the most active. Due to its location this region has faced some devasting earthquakes in the past century. The most devasting was the 1935 earthquake with magnitude of 7.7, resulting in over 35,000 causalities and near destruction of the city, Subsequent earthquakes, such as those in 1974 (magnitude 6.4), 2008 (magnitude 6.2), and 2013 (magnitude 7.7), have also caused varying degrees of damage and loss of life. Given the high risk in the city, our project aims to do the Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Quetta. The vulnerability Assessment of the city is done by using SELENA (Seismic Loss Estimation using Logic Tree Approach) open tool. Some other software is also used like GIS (Geographic Information System) and MATLAB. After analysis, the most vulnerable zones are identified and recommendations for preventive measures are mentioned.