Seismic damage and comparison of fragility functions of public and residential buildings damaged by the 2014 Mae Lao (Northern Thailand) earthquake

On 5 May 2014, a 6.1-Mw earthquake struck the Mae Lao region in Thailand and resulted in the evacuation of all public structures in the epicentral area due to varying degrees of structural and nonstructural damage. This study reports the damage sustained by public buildings in the epicentral area based on postseismic surveys and data gathered from the local official database. Using these damage observations, fragility functions are then derived for public buildings, that is, temples and community health centers, and compared with fragility functions developed for residential buildings damaged in the same area. This earthquake provided several important lessons related to nonstructural damage to local community health centers and temples within the epicentral region. The failure of nonstructural components could lead to serious injuries and casualties. This study has also shown that poor seismic performance of local temples could be expected with moderate ground shaking. Findings in this study could be useful for developing appropriate strategies to ensure safety of local communities for moderate earthquakes for similar structures within the Indochina region in the future.