Seismic Risk Assessment for Sreemangal Town: Exploring the Use of Reliability-Based and RVS-FEMA 154 Methods for Building Safety in Bangladesh

In the present study, the vulnerability of the building stock of a small but important town (Srimangal Municipality under the Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh), located in the most earthquake-prone Sylhet region, was assessed. Besides, the applicability of two methods of vulnerability assessment (Reliability-Based Method and FEMA 154) for Bangladesh was also checked. 17.5% of the studied buildings were found vulnerable, and 65% of buildings were safe according to both methods. Most of the masonry buildings (85.71%) are at risk, as they are old and constructed before introducing Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) in 1993. For Bangladesh context, the Cut-Off Score of FEMA 154 was proposed as 1.5 instead of 2.0 in this study. The comparison between the two methods shows that the results obtained from the analysis were close enough to each other and both models gave reliable results. However, the lack of sophisticated damage data for the Reliability-Based Method could lead the results to be varied from the results obtained from another method. On the other hand, Basic Scores and Score Modifiers in FEMA set for developed countries might be calibrated for Bangladesh to decrease the result gaps. In conclusion, both methods were found suitable to use for vulnerability assessment of buildings in Bangladesh.