Empirical seismic vulnerability analysis of infrastructure systems in Nepal

Infrastructure systems are one of the most important attributes of modern society. Earthquake induced damage to infrastructure not only results in economic losses, but also secondary effects caused by their loss of function. Proper understanding of seismic vulnerability of critical infrastructure is therefore essential for disaster risk reduction. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake (M_W 7.8) and its aftershocks caused widespread damage to various infrastructure systems in Nepal. This study is an attempt to quantify seismic vulnerability and fragility functions of some of the most severely affected infrastructure systems, i.e., road pavements, highway bridges, irrigation systems, hydropower systems, and brick kiln chimneys. These functions are based on empirical data of loss/damage collected after the earthquake. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the estimation of ground motion intensity and limitations in the range of observed damages, the results highlight that these infrastructures are highly vulnerable to ground shaking and could experience major damage and significant losses during moderate to strong ground shaking.