Field observations and interpretation of the structural performance of constructions after the 11 May 2011 Lorca earthquake

On the 11th of May 2011, an earthquake of magnitude Mw = 5.1 hit the city of Lorca in the southeast region of Murcia, Spain. The earthquake caused a significant amount of damage over a very large number of buildings. In this context, the proposed paper presents an overview of the damage that was observed over the course of a 2-day reconnaissance trip that took place 2 weeks after the earthquake. After providing a general summary of the regional tectonic settings and seismicity, the performance of the constructions during the earthquake is addressed, focussing on the damage observed in both historical and recent constructions. The observed damage patterns and their extent are analysed and interpreted in light of the construction typologies that were found.