Building damage caused by the 2017 M5.4 Pohang, South Korea, earthquake, and effects of ground conditions

Abstract

The 2017M5.4 Pohang, South Korea, earthquake damaged numerous buildings. Immediately after the main shock event, 1,880 professional engineers inspected the damaged buildings and assigned three damage grades ("Usable," "Restricted use," and "Unusable"). We investigate factors influencing the building damage. The built year, number of stories, and estimated peak ground acceleration are strongly related with the frequency of building damage. We also prove that the damage caused to the building is influenced by the basin geometry, based on site parameters such as N value, shear wave velocity, depth to rock, and site fundamental period.