Advancements from a posteriori studies on the damage to buildings caused by the 1976 Friuli earthquake (north-eastern Italy)

After the May 6, 1976 earthquake in Friuli Venezia Giulia (north-eastern Italy), about 85,000 buildings in the affected area were investigated through damage-assessment forms. Researchers of University of Udine collected and re-organized these data, and created the FrED (Friuli Earthquake Damage) database. As a result, more than 45,000 buildings with complete information were geo-localized. This enabled carrying out a posteriori studies to characterize both the vulnerability of different typologies of buildings and the effects of the geomorphology on the site seismic response. This paper, after a brief overview on the 1976 earthquakes in Friuli and on the FrED database, summarises the main results of these studies. In particular, the paper compares the results of a statistical analysis of the FrED information at regional scale, with the results obtained, at local scale, through geophysical investigations. The geophysical outcomes highlight that in some scenarios the local seismic response is infl uenced by local conditions that cannot be recognized from the analysis of FrED at regional scale. Nevertheless, the results of the study provide a preliminary informative-warning on the potential amplifi cation factors of the geomorphological regions. These results can be used for in-depth studies for quantifying the amplifi cation factors at local scale.