First analysis of data concerning damage occurred to churches of the Marche region following the 2016 Central Italy earthquakes

The seismic sequence that struck Central Italy from August to October 2016 caused severe damage to many historical and artistic buildings. In particular, churches were widely affected due to the intrinsic peculiarities of their structural system, unable to develop an efficient box-like resisting mechanism. After the seismic events, teams of experts carried out a massive survey of churches to assess both the occurred damage and their usability. Teams were coordinated by the Department of Civil Protection and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. In this paper, a methodology for processing the data recorded during the inspections of a number of churches of the Marche Region is proposed and used to analyse a sample dataset. Starting from the subdivision of the sampled churches into homogeneous typologies, the most recurring damage mechanisms are identified. In addition, the global damage index of each church is correlated with the relevant highest pseudo spectral acceleration at period 0.30s registered at the site as a consequence of the main shocks; relationships between the seismic intensity and the observed damage are then derived from such a correlation. Finally, the overall damage occurred to churches of the sample is compared to that estimated through empirical models available in the literature.