1992 Erzincan earthquake

This paper reports on the performance of reinforced concrete structures during the Richter magnitude 6.8 earthquake which struck the city of Erzincan in eastern Turkey on March 13, 1992. This earthquake demonstrated once again the poor performance of brittle structural systems during strong earthquakes. Amplification of ground motion due to the soft soil conditions of Erzincan, the close proximity to the epicenter, and widespread use of soft stories increased ductility demands on structural components. Some of the low-rise buildings with unreinforced masonry infills remained elastic during the earthquake, and hence performed well. Reinforced concrete frames of these buildings were not damaged significantly, even if they were designed and built without any seismic considerations. Those that responded beyond the threshold for elastic behavior of unreinforced masonry suffered irreparable damage to reinforced concrete columns and beam-column connections in most cases, sometimes leading to total structural collapse. The cause of most of the structural damage observed can be attributed to a lack of seismic design practice in the region, including lack of column confinement and shear reinforcement, lack of joint reinforcement and detailing, and poor workmanship and quality of materials in general.