Damage Status and Seismic Assessment of Mid-to High-rise Buildings in the 2016 Meinong Earthquake in Taiwan

Damage Status and Seismic Assessment of Mid-to High-rise Buildings in the 2016 Meinong Earthquake in Taiwan

The most recent devastating earthquake to strike Taiwan was the Meinong earthquake in 2016, which led to the collapse of eight 2–16-story buildings. The reconnaissance results of two representative mid-to high-rise buildings, Xingfu and Weiguan, which collapsed during the 2016 Meinong earthquake, are introduced in this study. This study uses a seismic assessment method with pushover analysis and nonlinear response history analysis to understand the seismic capacity of the collapsed buildings in the earthquake. The effects of masonry brick walls on the response of mid-to high-rise buildings are also examined. The results indicate that the presence of brick walls adds a considerable amount of stiffness to the system structure and reduces the fundamental natural period. The collapse of a building can be defined using the parameters of axial load, drift ratio, and ductility ratio. The results of this research are expected to contribute to the prevention of collapse of mid-to high-rise buildings in future earthquakes.