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Room: Ballroom

Date: 4/17/2023

Session Time: 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM (local time)

José A. Martinez-Cruzado, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

The seismic hazard map being used in the current building code in Puerto Rico (IBC, 2018) dates from 2003. The Puerto Rico Seismic Network has recorded thousands of earthquakes within the island that highlight the existence of several faults not included in the 2003 map. The United States Geological Survey has begun the process to update the map, a process that will probably end by 2026. However, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has received billions of federal funds for reconstruction due to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria (2017), the 2020 Southwestern Puerto Rico Mw 6.4 earthquake and seismic sequence and Hurricane Fiona (2022), a reconstruction that has begun. The engineers are preparing the structural designs of the new infrastructure based on the current building code (2018). In this presentation, an alternative is presented for the use of elastic design spectra that consider faults not included in the 2003 seismic hazard map.

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