ASSESSMENT OF EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR OF PERSONS DWELLING STRUCTURES PLACED IN ZONES OF HIGH SEISMICITY Chapter in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • High-rise buildings are considered a successful solution to contemporaneous requirements that involve services or housing in the big cities around the world; these structures, particularly those located in seismic zones are usually exposed to strong ground motions. These earthquakes damage not only to buildings integrity, but also the emotional conditions over their habitants; while, studies in the field of structural and earthquake engineering have helped to understand and to know in a better way the response of different structures to be prepared to strong ground motions; the emotional response of humans, when they are exposed to earthquakes, has been scarcely considered by the engineers, this consideration could be as important as technical aspects. When communities are exposed to earthquakes, the culture of response during the event is associated to the knowledge of consequences of past ground motions, current conditions, and real risks. Previous experiences around the world, support that during and after an earthquake, the most important tools are the capabilities of the infrastructure, associated to the informed and prepared population. A better response of individuals during an earthquake allows a more rational behaviour and hence, a better compliance of consequent actions. After the occurrence of seismic events, people must face to the next stages with a necessary resilience against the possible consequences. Unfortunately, at that time, there are not enough mechanisms to support emotionally to the people to do slighter the involvement. In this work, we present a study aimed to recognize the psychological response of people during an earthquake, the human capacity for remembering past events and consequently, the lack of rational behaviour for following the emergency directions, identifying possible engineering and psychological issues to help in the comprehension and adoption of the Earth¿s movement as part of the convivence with the geographical zone. As a conclusion, it can be stated that a better knowledge on the dynamic processes of the Earth by people, will lead up to a better emotional management during strong ground motions and we propose possible elements to introduce in the infrastructure and diffusion of the ground natural behaviour that can help in the goal of community resilience. © 2024, International Association for Earthquake Engineering. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • January 1, 2024