This database was last updated July 16, 2015.

Note: Data from more buildings will be added to this database in the near future.
Note: Data were also collected for 28 high rise reinforced concrete structures in Kathmandu, Nepal. A database with high-rise RC building data will be published at Performance of High-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings in the 2015 Nepal Earthquake


On April 25, 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in Nepal. It caused more than 8500 casualties and left over 22,000 people injured. Another major earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred in Nepal on May 12, 2015. Thousands of buildings were destroyed and many more rendered unsafe.



Detailed surveys and inspections of reinforced concrete structures affected by the earthquakes in Nepal were conducted in a reconnaissance effort funded by The American Concrete Institute. The effort was concentrated on identification of buildings with structures similar to new and older reinforced concrete buildings in seismic areas in the U.S. The reconnaissance group consisted of 4 teams (A, B, C and D) with 3 or 4 people in each team. Data were collected between June 18, 2015 and July 01, 2015.






This database is presented as a spreadsheet with each row containing the following information for a building:

1. Title: Title of the project, group of experiments, simulations or surveys
2. Source: Names of the people who generated the data
3. Keywords: Words describing the dataset
4. Report(s): Related documentation
5. Experiment or Case ID: ID assigned by the source to the sample, specimen, case, survey, site, experiment or simulation
6. Latitude: Latitude of the location where data was collected, if applicable
7. Longitude: Longitude of the location where data was collected, if applicable
8. Parameters: Variables and parameters chosen by the researcher, compiler, professional or scientific organization to describe the data
9. Drawings/Diagrams: Drawing and diagrams helpful to interpret the data
10. Data: Data files generated through project. Tabular text format is preferred
11. Photos, Videos, etc.: Media files including photos, videos, audio generated through project
12. Compiled by: Names of the people who compiled the data
13. Date: Date when the dataset was compiled

In addition, the following information is presented in the parameter column:

1. Event
2. Building ID
3. Priority Index (Hassan Index, %):
     PI = WI + CI (where, WI = Wall Index, CI = Column Index)
4. No. of Floors
5. Ground Floor Area (m2)
6. Total Floor Area (m2)
7. Column Area (m2)
8. Concrete Wall Area (NS) (m2)
9. Concrete Wall Area (EW) (m2)
10. Masonry Wall Area (NS) (m2)
11. Masonry Wall Area (EW) (m2)
12. Structural Damage - Four classes of damage
    a) Light: Hairline (crack width not exceeding approximate 0.13 mm) inclined and flexural cracks were observed in structural elements.
    b) Moderate: Wider cracks or spalling of concrete was observed.
    c) Severe: At least one element had a structural failure.
    d) Collapse: At least one floor slab or part of it lost its elevation.
    
13. Masonry Wall Damage - Damage to infill walls classified as follows:
    a) Light: Hairline cracks occurred.
    b) Moderate: Wider cracks appeared or large pieces of plaster flaked off.
    c) Severe: The element collapsed or cracks wide enough to see through the wall appeared.
    
14. Captive Columns: Are there captive columns?
15. Column Index (%)
       CI = 0.5 Acol/Af *100%
      where,
      Acol: the sum of cross-sectional areas of all columns at ground floor.
      Af: total floor area above ground level
    
16. Wall Index (NS) (%)
      WI = (Acw + 0.1Amw)/Af *100%
      where,
      Acw: the sum of cross-sectional areas of reinforced concrete walls in north-south direction at ground floor
      Amw: the sum of cross-sectional areas of infill masonry walls in north-south direction at ground floor
    
17. Wall Index (EW) (%)
      WI = (Acw + 0.1Amw)/Af *100%
      where,
      Acw: the sum of cross-sectional areas of reinforced concrete walls in east-west direction at ground floor
      Amw: the sum of cross-sectional areas of infill masonry walls in east-west direction at ground floor
    
18. Min WI (%)
      Minimum Wall Index
    
19. Priority Index (Hassan Index, %)
      PI = WI + CI
      where, WI = Wall Index, CI = Column Index
    

• Prateek Shah, Santiago Pujol, Aishwarya Puranam, Lucas Laughery (2016), "2015 Nepal Earthquake Building Performance Database," https://datacenterhub.org/deedsdv/publications/view/537.