Comparative Seismic Assessment of Historical Buildings with Similar Typologies Following the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

Historical buildings with similar typological features exhibited different damage levels during the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. Typological similarity refers to the common characteristics of the buildings in terms of construction period, regional construction tradition, functional use, structural layout, and load-bearing system features. The observed damage differences highlighted the importance of understanding the structural characteristics and damage mechanisms associated with the seismic performance of buildings exposed to different site-specific ground motion conditions under the same earthquake sequence. Evaluating the observed damage levels together with structural characteristics and seismic response enables the differences in seismic performance and the associated damage mechanisms to be explained. In this study, the seismic response and damage mechanisms of 26 historical buildings with similar typological features located in Malatya and its surrounding region were investigated through an integrated approach combining field observations and numerical analyses. Detailed field investigations and building surveys were conducted to identify the damage conditions and determine the geometric and structural characteristics of the buildings, together with geotechnical site investigations. Based on the data obtained from these investigations, a comprehensive building inventory was established, including the structural and typological features and damage levels of the buildings. Damage classification was also conducted for the buildings using the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98). In this study, detailed numerical analysis results are presented for four buildings selected from the inventory of 26 buildings to represent different damage levels. Three-dimensional models of these buildings were developed in Autodesk Revit based on detailed building survey data and transferred to ETABS, where nonlinear time-history analyses were performed in accordance with TBEC-2018. For the four numerically investigated buildings, the maximum displacement, rotation, and interstory drift responses increased progressively with the observed damage level, ranging from 4.61 to 36.22 mm, 7.8 × 10−5 to 6.36 × 10−3 rad, and 0.15% to 0.92%, respectively. Based on the evaluation of these findings together with the structural characteristics of the buildings, plan geometry, distribution and continuity of load-bearing walls, connection details, and opening arrangement were identified as the main structural factors associated with differences in seismic performance. The proposed approach provides an integrated framework for interpreting earthquake-induced damage in relation to structural response and for assessing historical buildings with similar typological features.