Reliability of Rapid Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Italian Architectural Heritage: the case of Churches

Abstract

Historical buildings play an important role in the cultural heritage conservation. The frequent
occurrence of seismic events in Italy involves either the culture of preservation or the civil
protection action aimed to reduce the risk to people and assets. Most of the Italian architectural
heritage can suffer severe injuries during an earthquake. According to the ancient techniques,
these masonry buildings withstand mainly gravity loads and are intrinsically vulnerable to
stresses induced by the earthquakes. Italian Churches are a significant example of these typical
buildings. They are vulnerable mainly due to their typical planovolumetric configuration in
combination with specific local factors.
One of the main technical activities carried out by the Italian Civil Protection after an
earthquake is to assess the damage in Churches and to evaluate their own vulnerability. To this
end, qualified technicians perform a visual inspection. They then fill out ad hoc synthetic forms
based on the collapse mechanisms that can be activated during an earthquake.
This study uses artificial intelligence techniques to evaluate the reliability of vulnerability
assessments obtained using this rapid procedure.