Performance of MasonryBuildings in November 12, 2017, Sarpol-e Zahab-Ezgeleh Earthquake (MW 7.3)

Sarpol-e Zahab - Ezgeleh earthquake (MW 7.3) occurred in Kermanshah province of Iran near the Iraq - Iran border on November 12, 2017 at 18:18 UTC (21:48 local time). The epicenter was located about 5 km from Ezgeleh town. Sarpol-e Zahab - Ezgeleh earthquake is the most destructive seismic event in Iran in recent decade in terms of financial and human losses. Based on field observations, carried out by the authors between November 25 and 30, 2017, extensive non-structural and structural damages were inflicted to all types of masonry buildings. Post-earthquake observations showed that the use of URM buildings in the area with high relative hazard of seismicity lead to significant damages. Moreover, defects in design and construction of buildings, which was the result of the lack of enough supervision by responsible organizations, can be considered as other causes of damages. In this paper, observed damages in masonry buildings are presented and investigated in detail.