PSI - Issue 78

Caterina Carbone et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1175–1182

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were introduced only for areas characterized by low/moderate seismicity, implying that displacement checks were required only for serviceability limit states, assuming that damage to non-structural elements is acceptable under severe seismic events. Regarding infills/partitions, construction guidelines were similar to those included in previous regulations from the ‘60s and no out-of-plane overturning verifications were required. The contribution of robust infills in full contact with the structural frame could be modelled using the equivalent diagonal strut method. Between 2001 and 2009, the main national seismic regulations included the OPCM 3274 (2003) (then updated with the OPCM 3431, 2005) and the D.M. 14/09/2005. On July 1, 2009, the D.M. 14/01/2008 (NTC2008) and its accompanying Circular No. 617 of February 2, 2009 became effective and mandatory nationwide since the first of July 2009. All these codes adopt the limit states design method. Verifications became progressively mandatory not only for the forces and the strength of structural elements but also for the inter-story horizontal displacements at serviceability limit states. Criteria were provided for the out-of-plane verification of masonry infills. Detailed construction specifications were also included, to improve both the in-plane and out-of-plane performance of masonry infills. The innovations introduced by these regulations allowed for a more effective frame design and a limitation of damage to infill elements. However, as regulations issued between 2001 and 2009 permitted the use of previous codes, the D.M. 16/01/1996 was probably still widely adopted for the design of reinforced concrete buildings, mainly because

of established operational rules in design practice. 3. Analysis of post-earthquake damage data

Italy has experienced three significant seismic events in the current century having magnitude between 5.4 Mw and 6.5 Mw: the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake (Fig. 1a), the 2012 Emilia seismic sequence (Fig. 1b) and the 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence (Fig. 1c). Following each event, the Department of Civil Protection (DPC) coordinated surveys of ordinary buildings, which were carried out using the AeDES form, the official tool for rapid damage assessment, short-term countermeasures and usability outcome.

Fig. 1. (a) G eographical location of the epicentre of the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and CR of affected municipalities; (b) geographical loc ation of the epicentres of the main shocks of the 2012 Emilia seismic sequence and CR of affected municipalities; (c) geographical location of the epicentres of the main shocks of the 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence and CR of affected municipalities. Survey data of each event were organized into a comprehensive post-earthquake damage database, accessible via the web-GIS Da.D.O. platform (Dolce et al., 2019). All damage databases were critically analyzed to identify residential buildings and to assess the completeness of survey campaigns. For each affected municipality, a completeness ratio (CR) was calculated as the ratio between the number of surveyed buildings and the total number of residential buildings reported in census data (ISTAT, 2011) (Fig. 1). As the DPC mandated a comprehensive survey