A Critique on the Turkish Earthquake Code Regulations Regarding Masonry Construction

2008-11-07
Masonry is still a commonly used type of residential construction in rural and even in urban regions. Unfortunately, the strength and stability of masonry structures are critical in the case of high amplitude cyclic lateral loads such as earthquake ground motion. Hence, the masonry buildings with structural deficiencies belong to the most vulnerable class of structures which have experienced heavy damage or even total collapse in previous earthquakes, especially in developing countries like Turkey. The damage and loss in earthquakes are not only due to the lack of technological advances and knowledge, but also due to inappropriate design and construction of masonry structures ignoring code requirements and prohibitions. Considering all these facts, a comparative study is carried out based on the investigation of codes and standards for masonry design. The adequacy and feasibility of regulations in the last two and the current versions of Turkish earthquake code is assessed in comparison with the most commonly used codes in Europe and the United States. At the end of the study, the current status of the masonry related code regulations in Turkey among well-known international standards is emphasized and further recommendations for upgrading the current code regulations are given.
8th International Seminar on Structural Masonry (5 - 7 Kasım 2008)

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Citation Formats
M. A. Erberik and B. Ö. Ay, “A Critique on the Turkish Earthquake Code Regulations Regarding Masonry Construction,” presented at the 8th International Seminar on Structural Masonry (5 - 7 Kasım 2008), İstanbul, Türkiye, 2008, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/71930.