Role of Retrofitting of Non-Engineered Construction for Improving Seismic Performance in Developing Countries

Large number of building structure have been designed and constructing in India prior to the existence of seismic codes of practice. Experience in the recent past earthquake in India in the last decade, especially Kashmir earthquake of 2005 have clearly exposed the seismic vulnerability of existing structures. Majority of houses fallen under the category of non engineered construction. Such structure, which are severely deficient against earthquake forces require seismic evaluation and retrofitting measures to reduce the earthquake hazard damage in the future. This paper deals with various important issues related to identification and assessment of seismic efficiency of masonary buildings which do not satisfy the requirements of current seismic codes and design practices. The objective of this study is to discuss the nature and extent of problem and suggest various retrofitting measures that can be adopted by the builders and engineers for structurally deficient buildings to transform the killing homes into safety rooms.