They were created within the framework of the RiskSchools research project funded by the Region of Central Macedonia
An application for smart phone devices and an online platform that check the seismic vulnerability of schools were created as part of the RiskSchools research project funded by the District Central Macedonia. The user of the application enters in a special form information such as the location of the building, its technical characteristics, the age and construction materials, the territorial characteristics of its location, the category of the soil, etc. and the score obtained through the relevant software classifies the building in the category of adequate or in the category of the building for which there should be further investigation. At the same time, through the electronic platform, analyzes are carried out at a further level through the use of seismic vulnerability curves, from which the degree of seismic vulnerability of the building is again derived.
The application and platform were presented today at a conference entitled: “Seismic vulnerability & risk of school buildings” organized at the Research Results Dissemination Center (KEDEA) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) by the Laboratory of Soil Mechanics, Foundations and Geotechnical Seismic Engineering of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the company Concept Consultants Engineers A.E.
According to Dr. Civil Engineer Anna Karatzetzou, the application created based on the methodology of the Greek Anti-Seismic Regulation (OASP 2000) and the platform operated as a pilot from 2022 to 2023 for the assessment of seismic vulnerability in 360 schools out of 1800 that exist in Central Macedonia. “The know-how now exists, these tools exist and will be available to the competent bodies in two to three months, with the completion of the relevant project” said Ms. Karatzetzou. She added that the agencies will have these tools at their disposal to manage them.
“This is essentially a system that goes one step further than pre-earthquake control,” said Professor Emeritus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Kyriazis Pitilakis, from his side to APE-MPE. He added: “we propose an integrated tool that can precisely audit existing school buildings on a large scale, calibrate and prioritize the degree of vulnerability so that the necessary measures can be taken afterwards.”
The system can be applied in other regions of Greece and internationally and can be adapted appropriately for other critical facilities, such as health care systems (hospitals), public buildings, etc.
