Correlation Between Building Damage, Ground Motion Parameters and Input Energy: A Novel Ranking Scheme Using Multivariate Analysis

The present study describes the interdependency between earthquake ground motion parameters and seismic damage to various buildings. A novel ranking procedure between energy, damage and seismic risk has been propo­sed for buildings subjected to ground motions. Correlation analysis was done between damage to buildings, energy and total energy to confirm the trend of para­meters and their influence on total energy ranking. It was found that high peak ground acceleration (PGA) or high energy alone may not lead to extensive damage to the buildings. However, they were affected by the pre­dominant frequency, duration of ground motion and amplitude. A correlation study was performed using over 300 ground motions datasets. It was found that the seismic damage of low-rise buildings had a moderate correlation with root mean square acceleration, characteristic intensity, sustained maximum acceleration and effective design acceleration. Also, a weak correlation was observed between seismic damage of high-rise, tall buildings and (V/H)PGA, Arms. The damage and seismic risk rankings may help change Government policies for retrofitting buildings.