Abstract:

For the past decade, several efforts were made by different government and private institutions to develop vulnerability curves of key building types in the Philippines using empirical, heuristic, and/or computational methods. This paper presents the recent development of seismic vulnerability curves of buildings based on experts’ opinion. A building typological system in terms of structural type and materials used in construction was proposed and a paper survey was conducted where experts input for different levels of earthquake intensity the damage ratio of each building type. Analyses revealed that there is a very low correlation between number of years of experience and the confidence level of the respondents. Results also show that the heuristic vulnerability curves of low- and mid-rise buildings are similar for both concrete and steel types. Moreover, seismic vulnerability of buildings, according to specialists, is dictated by the material used in construction rather than the number of floors of a building.