Seismic Vulnerability of the Ancient Pompeii

What is it about?

The ancient Pompeii was hit by a sequence of earthquakes during the 1st century with disastrous consequences on the buildings. Many constructions were repaired after the ground shaking, others, in particular public buildings present, still today, signs of active works at the time of the Vesuvius eruption. Moreover, cracks and deformations originated from the 1st century tremors are visible on the walls and represent a precious source of information on the ultimate performance of the constructions. Despite a high in-plan geometric heterogeneity, the Pompeians’ housing stock was limited to two storeys with, often, an in-plan and along the height uniform distribution of masses, strength and stiffness, hence a reduced torsional motions tendency under earthquake actions. Furthermore, the seismic performance of the building could be influenced by the masonry arrangement and components properties, ranging, in the analysed cases, from the opus quadratum to the structura fabric, i.e. a concrete nucleus covered by stones or bricks leaf. The paper provides the key features, although of qualitative type, of the constructions vulnerability level during the last phase of the Pompeii’s history, basing on the “seismic” improvement interventions, on ancient deformations and repaired cracks, compared to the buildings configuration and the used constructive techniques.

Featured Image