Assessment of Landslide Damage to Buildings at the Urban Scale

Abstract

This article aims to deepen the knowledge in the field of landslide risk assessment by introducing a new multilevel approach to the vulnerability assessment. It focuses on an original methodology for damage assessment of either masonry or reinforced concrete ordinary buildings at the urban scale. This methodology is an essential part of Level 1 of the previously mentioned multilevel approach. It starts from filling in purposely designed forms that are completed when a damage grade is assigned to each building within the region under study according to a new damage classification. The end product of the application of the methodology is the so-called landslide damage geotechnical chart. The chart includes not only the damage grade of the buildings within the urban center investigated, but also the geomorphological and geotechnical maps of the town or area under study, and information concerning the direction of the settlements reconstructed to have caused the damage. The application of the methodology to the historical town of Bovino, in the south of Italy, is also reported.