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Seismic isolation, as an effective risk mitigation strategy of building/bridge structures, is incorporated into AP1000 nuclear power plants (NPPs) to alleviate the seismic damage that may occur to traditional structures of NPPs during their service. This is to promote the passive safety concept in the structural design of AP1000 NPPs against earthquakes.

In conjunction with seismic isolation, tuned-mass-damping (TMD) is integrated into the seismic resistance system of AP1000 NPPs to satisfy the multi-functional purposes. The proposed base-isolation-tuned-mass-damper (BIS-TMD) is studied by comparing the seismic performance of NPPs with four different design configurations (i.e. without BIS, BIS, BIS-TMD and TMD) with the design parameters of the TMD subsystem optimized.

Such a new seismic protection system (BIS-TMD) is proved to be promising because the advantages of BIS and TMD can be fully used. The benefits of the new structure include effective energy dissipation (i.e. wide vibration absorption band and a stable damping effect), which results in the high performance of NPPs subject to earthquakes with various intensity levels and spectra features.

Parametric studies are performed to demonstrate the seismic robustness (e.g. consistent performance against the changing mass of the water in the gravity liquid tank and mechanical properties) which further ensures that seismic safety requirements of NPPs can be satisfied through the use of BIS-TMD.

Until the Loma Prieta earthquake of 17 October 1989, also known as the “World Series earthquake” or the “San Francisco earthquake,” many of us may have considered earthquakes a remote danger. But instantaneous television transmission from the interrupted World Series game and frightening images of the collapsed Cypress Viaduct and the burning Marina district transformed this incident from a distant disaster into a phenomenon that touched us all. The Loma Prieta earthquake was followed in December 1990 by the inaccurate but widely publicized New Madrid earthquake prediction. Despite its inaccuracy, this prediction alerted the public to the fact that the largest earthquake ever to have occurred in the United States occurred not in California or Alaska, but in Missouri, and that a large earthquake could occur there again. Americans are discovering that few places are immune to the possibility of an earthquake.

The paper is aimed at assessing the safety of the Giotto's Bell Tower, with special attention to its foundation system, i.e. the foundation works and soil. The tower, well known all over the world, has a squared plan, with sides of 14.45 m each, and a total height equal to 84.7 m. The structural response of the tower is assessed with reference to the gravitational load and to the expected seismic action, quantified according to the seismic hazard of the site and the foundation soil.

A simplified analysis has been performed to check the safety level of the tower to seismic actions. Special attention has been paid to quantify the horizontal actions representing the seismic loads. Such quantification, indeed, has been made both through the elastic spectrum of the tower and by performing a site response analysis on the foundation soil, represented as a one-dimensional stratification of soil layers, described on the basis of experimental investigations. After defining the loading actions, a simplified assessment of the foundation safety has been made by considering the action over foundation, the geotechnical data and the safety factor.

The findings of the paper concern the assessment of the safety of the tower's foundation system. A lot of experimental data on the foundation soil, provided by various geological investigations, have been provided and used for the assessment. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the materials used for the structure have been collected and shown in the paper.

The paper collects a lot of technical information regarding the Giotto's Bell Tower, both regarding its foundation soil and the constituting materials. On the basis of the collected information, a structural analysis has been made to assess the seismic safety of the tower, and the results of such assessment are provided and discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. The structural integrity of public schools in Lebanon is a source of deep concern due to their outdated design and deteriorated status, their apparent lack of compliance with seismic design regulations, the unknown status of their safety and stability, their substandard maintenance and their low construction quality. These schools have not undergone any strengthening improvements to enhance their load-carrying capacity or their resistance to earthquake activity.

This paper is based on survey questionnaire illustrating the seismic risk exposure of public schools in Lebanon. It offers an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. It stresses the needs of retrofitting of public school buildings to enhance their functional capacities against future destructive earthquakes.

The findings of the survey emphasize the seismic structural vulnerability of the majority of public schools in Lebanon and call for deeper assessment and investigation that involve government officials for strengthening and retrofitting of public school buildings as part of holistic disaster risk-reduction strategy to prevent the induced serious risk to children in the event of a devastating earthquake.

This article should alert school administrators, public leaders and government officials regarding the seismic threats and their subsequent effects on the structural safety of public school buildings in Lebanon. The assessment of seismic structural vulnerability has rarely been performed or even discussed in the Lebanese-related literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in commercial office occupiers’ preferences in their building choice as a result of a recent natural disaster which triggered policy changes in building safety.

This study follows a qualitative research design comprising semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 24 property professionals (commercial leasing agents and property managers) in Auckland, New Zealand. A thematic analysis was employed for identifying, analysing and reporting themes emerged within data.

Tenants across New Zealand now incorporate earthquake issues in their leasing decisions. Most tenants are familiar with the impending policy changes related to earthquake-prone buildings. The degree to which building standards are incorporated into office occupiers’ choice varies with the size of the organisation and their willingness to invest in their corporate social responsibility. A certain level of overreaction was observed in tenants’ behaviour in the face of risk and uncertainty following the earthquakes. However, risk appears to be subsiding and emphasis is placed on availability of space in desirable locations.

The findings are limited due to a non-random sample selection and a small sample size. Further quantitative research is required to determine if office tenants place a premium on occupying seismically safe buildings since forthcoming regulatory changes have been announced.

This study provides evidence that imminent building policy changes are efficient in raising public awareness and informing perceptions of potential losses following a recent natural disaster event. Building owners can potentially capitalise on tenants’ desire to occupy high quality space.

This is the first study that develops the knowledge base identifying the perceptions of tenants about seismic safety of buildings since the Canterbury earthquakes. The study also contributes to the literature on the market effect of policy changes triggered by a focusing event.

With the marked increase in the awareness of earthquake risks following the Canterbury earthquakes, the purpose of this paper is to assess if the reassessment of risk has influenced rents for office accommodation in commercial buildings. Two contrasting office markets are examined: New Zealand’s largest market within a high-risk earthquake zone – Wellington, and the country’s largest market within a low-risk zone – Auckland.

A sample of 252 leasing transactions were collected from a proprietary database of Colliers International, one of the largest commercial brokerage firms in New Zealand. Hedonic pricing models were developed to isolate the effects of building seismic strength on office rents.

Wellington office market rents tend to increase with higher earthquake strength (New Building Standard) ratings, all other factors held equal. In contrast, rents in Auckland, a low-risk earthquake area, do not exhibit such price effects.

The study provides estimates of the economic value associated with seismic retrofits which are vital for building owners’ decision making who must weigh retrofit costs against the economic benefits of doing so.

This study provides the first empirical analysis of office rents in New Zealand and the first quantitative analysis, internationally, of the impact of earthquake risk on commercial rents.

In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may depend on the school as a disaster shelter and aid center. Thus, this paper aims to conduct a multihazard risk assessment survey at 50 schools (with 246 building blocks) in Dehradun.

The past few decades have witnessed the impact of multihazard frequency in Uttarakhand, India, due to the geographical features of the Himalayas and its neo-tectonic mountain-building process. Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand state and comes under seismic zone IV, which is highly prone to earthquakes.

The hazard assessment is divided into two types of surveys: first, building-level surveys that include rapid visual screening, nonstructural risk assessment and fire safety audit, and second, campus-level surveys that include vulnerability analysis for earthquake, flood, industrial hazard, landslide and wind.

This paper will list several gaps and unrecognized practices in the region that increase the schools’ multihazard risk. The study’s outcome will help prioritize the planning of disaster awareness, retrofitting execution, future construction practices and decision-making to minimize the risk and prepare the school for the upcoming disasters.

Physical data were collected by the author to determine the multihazard risk analysis in 50 schools in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand, India. The building- and campus-level surveys have been used to generate a database for the retrofit and renovation process for each individual school to use their budget fruitfully and in a planned way. The survey conducted is more effort and a more detailed risk evaluation which necessitates effectively mitigating and ensuring the potential safety of the region’s schools.

Equipping health care facilities for times of natural disasters especially earthquakes is of great importance all over the world, especially in developing countries such as Iran. In this paper, first the obtained research results are discussed with regard to the types of structures and the structural and non‐structural problems of 110 hospitals in the capital city of Tehran. The earthquake safety procedures for health care facilities, standards and criterion for their appropriate performance during natural disasters and the general requirements for structural design and strengthening methods are then considered. Finally, a disaster management plan and organisation is proposed for these centres.

Frequent fire incidences in various hospitals across the globe with devastating effects on humans and other resources have multiplied. Stakeholders in the health-care sector are worried because of the yearly fire outbreak increase. However, fire safety management has been proved as a successful platform to mitigate fire in health-care facilities. How far regarding public health-care facilities is yet to receive in-depth studies in Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the issues associated with fire safety management and proffers possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception.

The objectives were achieved through a combination of case studies of five selected Malaysia’s public hospitals and a qualitative approach. Thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA (software program designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data) 2018, a type of qualitative data analysis software was used to analyse the collated data which emerged from the knowledgeable participants.

Lax implementation of safety policy, inadequate water pressure, poor maintenance, inadequate communication system, amongst others, emerged as the issues. Findings proffer five main measures to possibly improve fire safety management in public health-care buildings. This includes a feasible institutional framework, improve the emergency response team, improve the occupational health and safety system and others.

This paper is limited to exploring the issues associated with fire safety management and proffer possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception. Future research is needed to engage useful information in advancing fire safety management in public hospital buildings and possibly developing a qualitative model using a generic fire response model. Also, to investigate the level of compliance with the requirements of a fire safety management plan and possibly develop a well-detailed fire safety plan in Malaysia’s public health-care buildings.

As part of the paper implications, the paper concludes that improved fire protection systems via modern technologies and training of key staff members in accident response and recovery during fire emergencies should be encouraged. This can be achieved through the enforcement and implementation of a fire safety management plan. Thus, this study is encouraging the implementation and sustainability of a fire safety management plan for health-care buildings across Malaysia.

To the best of this paper’s knowledge, this is possibly the first comprehensive paper on fire safety management in public health-care facilities that engaged operators in Malaysia. Moreover, this paper proffers feasible policy solutions to improve the fire safety management plan in public health-care buildings.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost of seismic resilience of identified vulnerable lifeline public buildings in earthquake-prone Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India.

Built area of the identified vulnerable lifeline buildings together with prevalent rate of construction has been considered for assessing the cost of seismic resilience while improvised rapid visual screening (RVS) technique, better suited to the built environment in the region, has been used for assessing seismic vulnerability.

Investment of US$250.08m is assessed as being required for ensuring seismic safety of 56.3, 62.1, 52.9, 64.6, 71.9 and 61.7% surveyed buildings, respectively, of fire and emergency services, police, health, education, local administration and other departments that are to become non-functional after an earthquake and result in a major socio-political turmoil. A total amount of US$467.71m is estimated as being required for making all the buildings of these departments seismically resilient.

Actual investment estimates and reconstruction/retrofitting plans have to be prepared after detailed investigations as RVS technique only provides a preliminary estimate and helps in prioritising buildings for detailed investigations.

This study is intended to provide a snapshot of the state of seismic vulnerability together with the financial resources required for corrective measures. This is to help the authorities in planning phased mobilisation of financial and technical resources for making the built environment seismically resilient.

This study is to bring forth awareness on this important issue and consequent public opinion in favour of safety of public facilities to ensure allocation of appropriate financial resources together with changes in techno-legal regime for the cause of earthquake safety. At the same time, this study is to motivate masses to voluntarily assess safety of their neighbourhood and undertake corrective measures.

This study is based on primary data collected by the authors.