National exposure model for industrial structures in Chile

The 2010 Maule mega-earthquake produced estimated damage in Chile of 30 billion dollars, of which until today, the percentage corresponding to the cost associated with damage to industrial structures is unknown. This has generated concern regarding what will happen in the next major seismic event. Therefore, the need arises to incorporate seismic risk information in government disaster risk reduction measures.

In recent years, progress has been made in exposure models for residential buildings, but only a small number of investigations include industrial buildings, mainly due to the lack of information available in the databases and the difficulty in obtaining additional information from the private sector. This generates the need to computationally collect and process data obtained from existing databases and information obtained remotely.

The result of this research consists of the definition of a methodology and subsequent obtaining of an exposure model at the national level that includes the quantification, geographical location and the definition of characteristic typologies of industrial buildings in Chile, through its own flexible taxonomy that provides the necessary information for the subsequent structural modeling of each constructive typology. Given the limited information available and restricted access to industrial sites, the research adopts a hybrid methodology that combines statistical analysis of public cadastral data with remote visual surveys. In addition to obtaining an exposure model, the available information sources are discussed and compared, indicating the associated uncertainties and the assumptions considered.