A Multi-level Approach for Damage Prevention in Seismic Areas. Application to Historic Centres of the Western Liguria

A multi-disciplinary approach to the understanding of the seismic response of old stone masonry buildings in Western Liguria and to the evaluation of the reliability of retrofitting techniques is presented. This has been set up during a research carried out after the 1997 earthquake in Umbria. The historical centers of Baiardo and Taggia, (Province of Imperia, Italy) on which a new research has been recently started and others, still display signs of damage due to XIX century earthquakes, to which the problems of lack of maintenance and, in many cases, of abandon have overlapped. A method for evaluating their seismic vulnerability is proposed after: (i) a direct survey of the buildings (based on a stratigraphical survey and on a survey of the crack patterns and of the wall sections), (ii) the collection of indirect information from documentary sources, (iii) the collection of data recorded through in-situ non destructive or low destructive mechanical testing and laboratory investigation aiming at the chemical, physical and mechanical characterization of masonry components. The procedure aims at defining the possible mechanisms of failures under the seismic actions in order to apply appropriate mechanical models and to choose the most compatible techniques for prevention and repair.