Vulnerability of historical centers: the case of Camerino (Marche Region)

The seismic activity that has always shaken the Italian territory and especially the latest events (earthquake in Central Italy 2016) - highlighted again the structural fragility of the historic centres, which are mostly made up of masonry buildings, often of poor quality, and characterized by typical and specific vulnerabilities that do not allow sufficient resistance to the seismic phenomenon. In particular, the small historical centres in the Marche region are mainly characterized by a “spontaneous” architecture, generally made up of poor materials. Moreover, these historic centres are located in internal areas with high seismic risk and have, consequently, a very high exposure linked to different factors and for this reason, it is extremely complex to characterize their vulnerability and predict their damage conditions. In recent years, the Marche region developed a susceptibility to seismic risk due to the intensification of earthquakes, with a frequency of events different from what can be estimated in probabilistic terms. The different local conditions have had a decisive influence on the damage to the historical-artistic heritage which, in many situations, reached the almost total collapse of the structure. In the present research, a methodology is applied for an assessment of the vulnerability of historic centres at an urban scale, analyzing, in particular, a case study (Camerino) to verify how some conditions (historical evolution, aggregation systems, construction techniques) and some factors (site amplifications, details locations, transformation level) affect its fragility.