Abstract:

On February 6, 2023, the largest earthquakes in the history of the Republic of Turkey in terms of loss of life and damage occurred in Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province. Tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged due to earthquakes. Damage assessment studies were started immediately after the earthquake and the extent to which the existing building stock was affected by the earthquake was investigated. Kahramanmaraş province is a city that hosts cultural assets due to the fact that it is a city with hundreds of years of history. The majority of these cultural assets are masonry structures. Although the number of masonry structures is less than the number of other structures, it is of great importance to examine the damage conditions of masonry structures and to determine the measures to be taken for repair due to their cultural values. In the present study, damage types and causes of masonry structures due to earthquakes were investigated. As a result of the study, structural damages in masonry structures were generally found to be factors such as large opening widths, excessively rigid structures, high wall height/thickness and length/thickness ratios, poor lintel use on the opening tops, poor roof-floor connections, weaknesses in wall corner joints, overlapping of vertical joints and workmanship errors.

Keywords: