Risk Assessment of Falling Hazards in Earthquakes in the Groningen Region
Risk Assessment of Falling Hazards in Earthquakes in the Groningen region Tony Taig and Florence Pickup (TTAC Ltd.) Datum March 2016 Editors Stuart Hardie and Jan van Elk General Introduction To date, NAM’s hazard and risk assessment has focused on the potential risk to people in the Groningen region from building collapse during earthquakes due to failure of the structural elements of buildings. However, non-structural elements of buildings, such as chimneys, parapets, and gables, can also fail during earthquakes, posing a potential falling object risk to people inside buildings and outside in the area close to building facades. Consequently, a falling hazards risk assessment has been carried out for induced earthquakes in the Groningen region, focusing on the non-structural (particularly masonry) elements of buildings. The falling hazards risk assessment was carried out for NAM by TTAC Limited, and is based on an earlier risk model developed to assess earthquake related rockfall risk in Christchurch, New Zealand, which was extensively peer reviewed and used for government decision making. The Groningen falling hazards risk assessment is considered fit for purpose given the objectives of characterizing falling object risk across the region, supporting prioritization of the structural upgrading program, and helping to develop some practical guidelines for managing falling object risk. Quality assurance of the risk assessment has been carried out by TTAC and Arup, and the methodology has been reviewed with the Scientific Advisory Committee. In the Groningen falling hazards risk assessment, 160,000 buildings across the region were surveyed (using an internet based survey), on which 120,000 potentially hazardous objects were identified where the objects pose a risk to publicly accessible space, are located above a door, or could fall through the roof of a building.
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