A Decision Support Methodology for Seismic Design Requirements of Buildings to Achieve Community-Level Resilience Metrics

Abstract

Communities can face devastation from earthquakes, including loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure, and damage to buildings. By implementing rigorous standards, communities can ensure that both new and existing structures are designed and retrofitted to withstand seismic forces. While current building codes prioritize life safety during earthquakes, they may not fully consider the postdisaster functionality and usability of buildings. Consequently, this paper introduces a novel simulation-based approach that promotes resilience-informed decision-making related to seismic design requirements for individual buildings within a community. This multidisciplinary approach takes into account the interdependencies between the physical and social systems in the community in terms of population dislocation after earthquakes. Furthermore, the methodology herein produces cost estimates for implementing seismic design upgrades, ensuring meeting seismic new retrofit level requirements for existing buildings in the community. An illustrative example using Salt Lake County (SLC), Utah, US, subject to a hypothetical earthquake scenario, is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simulation-based framework and decision support methodology. SLC encompasses a significant number of buildings, electric power substations, and power generation plants, serving a population of approximately 1 million. The analysis and simulations are conducted using the Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment (IN-CORE), an open-source platform that facilitates the execution of the proposed framework and methodology. Through this comprehensive approach, communities can enhance their preparedness, make informed decisions, and work toward building resilience in the face of seismic events.