Ricerc@Sapienza

Churches are an important part of New Zealand's architectural heritage, and the extensive damage observed in stone and clay brick unreinforced masonry churches after the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes has highlighted the need to appropriately describe their dynamic characteristics. Dealing with historical structures, characterized by a high level of uncertainty affecting both material properties and structural schemes, and given the paramount need of non-destructive investigation techniques, ambient vibration tests can be considered an effective tool.

Churches struck by the earthquake sequence of 2016–2017 in Central Italy confirmed their seismic vulnerability, significantly higher than the one of other unreinforced masonry structures. This resulted in a much wider area affected by significant damages to churches, which were characterised by a rich variability of materials, typologies, dimensions and styles. In the area where significant damages were observed for ordinary buildings, most of the churches exhibited total or partial collapses.