PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL ARCHES, VAULTS AND DOMES IN THE 2003 BAM EARTHQUAKE

Arches, vaults and domes were the most important elements in Iranian buildings until the beginning of the 20th century. These forms are one of the main features of traditional buildings in small cities and villages in the neighborhood of the desert. The present paper investigates the general performance of arches and domes during the Bam earthquake (December 2003, Ms=6.6). In this earthquake, wide damages to such traditional buildings were observed, especially those located in the vicinity of the fault. The paper reviews the main reasons of failures of such buildings. It also discusses the suitability of these structures in earthquake hazard areas and reviews the main points of weakness of the current construction practices.