Hüseyin Bilgin
Marsed Leti
Abstract
The moment magnitude 6.4 Albania earthquake which struck the Durrës region on November 26, 2019, caused an extensive damage on a large number of buildings, of nearly all types of construction. Its epicenter was located offshore north western Durrës, about 7 km north of the city and 30 km west from the capital city of Tirana. Officially, 52 died and 3000+ were injured, and thousands left homeless. Approximately, ~80000 buildings were adversely affected. Buildings damaged during this event were representative of construction types in form and structural system to those of the similar vintage found in Europe. This study focuses on the damage suffered by the masonry and RC buildings during this earthquake and explains the reasons of observed failure modes. Examples of several damage types, as observed by the authors during the reconnaissance visit to the stricken area are presented, along with technically substantiated description of reasons for the damages.
Keywords
Albania earthquake, construction practice, structural damage, material quality
