Damage of masonry buildings during earthquakes and retrofitting and strengthening examples from practice

Masonry buildings constitute a major fraction of the building stock in Serbia and other countries in the region, and they are highly exposed to the earthquakes and affected due to their vulnerability to seismic effects. This paper presents observations related to the seismic behaviour of masonry structures during recent earthquakes in the region, and outlines the common damage patterns. This was used as a basis for understanding the seismic behaviour of masonry buildings and choice of the feasible seismic retrofitting techniques. Finally, an overview of seismic retrofitting techniques for masonry buildings is presented, along with the examples of field applications