Seismic vulnerability assessment of the historical centre of Cusco, Peru

This paper deals with the seismic vulnerability assessment of dwellings in the historic center of Cusco (Peru), one of the most important UNESCO sites in the world. This activity is framed within a cooperation agreement between the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), the Andina University del Cusco (Peru) and the Cusco Municipality (Peru), and also with the participation of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, which aims at the evaluation of the seismic risk of the whole historic center. After a discussion concerning the development of the historic center and the main construction typologies, the paper presents the main outcomes of an extensive in-situ survey for collecting information about the main structural features of the buildings. Stats about this information are given through a GIS (Geographic Information System) environment. Then, the collected data are used in order to implement an empirical model for the prediction of the seismic vulnerability extended to the whole historic center. The model is derived by a methodology already proposed by the authors for Italian historic centers, but proper assumptions are made in order to account for the peculiarities of the studied structural typologies (adobe, stone, RC). Finally, fragility curves are given as a predictive tool for evaluating seismic scenarios provoked by earthquakes of different intensities.