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RAPID VISUAL SCREENING-BASED SEISMIC VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS IN DUWAKOT BESI, CHANGUNARAYAN MUNICIPALITY, NEPAL

Rajiv Manandhar, Tejeshwini Singh, Kritika Acharya, Basantaman Singh Yonjan Tamang

Abstract


Nepal is located in the active Himalayan seismic belt, where rapid urban growth and often unregulated construction have increased the earthquake vulnerability of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. This study assessed the seismic vulnerability of 25 RC frame buildings in Duwakot Besi, Ward No. 4 of Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur District, using a field-based Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) approach adapted from FEMA P-154. The buildings were evaluated based on six visible vulnerability indicators: soft storey, floating columns, plan irregularity, pounding potential, building height (≥5 storeys), and apparent poor construction quality. A Final Structural Security Score (SF) was assigned to each building to categorize its seismic risk level. The results showed that soft storey was the most frequently observed vulnerability, affecting 72% of buildings, followed by plan irregularity (48%) and poor construction quality (44%). Among the surveyed buildings, 80% were classified as Medium risk and 20% as Low risk, with no buildings identified as High risk. The findings highlight that many buildings in the study area possess moderate seismic vulnerability and show that RVS can serve as a simple, practical, and cost-effective method for identifying earthquake risks in rapidly developing areas where detailed structural data are limited.


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References


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