Seismic analysis of masonry structures in German earthquake zones according to DIN EN 1998-1 / Erdbebenbemessung von Mauerwerksbauten in deutschen Erdbebengebieten nach DIN EN 1998-1

The earthquakes in Albstadt in 1978 (magnitude 5.7), Roermond in 1992 (magnitude 5.9), and Waldkirch in 2004 (magnitude 5.1) have made it clear that earthquake-resistant design of ma- sonry structures is also very important in Germany. In 1981, DIN 4149 (1981) “Buildings in German earthquake areas - Design loads, analysis, and structural design of buildings” was introduced, although it only contained a few requirements for masonry structures. This standard was completely revised by the Building and Civil Engineering Standards Committee “Earthquakes; Special issues” of the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) on the basis of Eurocode 8 (2004) and was replaced by DIN 4149 (2005), which contains detailed rules for the seismic design of masonry structures. In the meantime, DIN EN 1998-1 (2010) and the national annex DIN EN 1998-1/NA (2011) became available, which were adopted by the building supervisory board after integrating the results of application tests performed and replace DIN 4149 (2005). The following article provides an overview of the seismic calculation and analysis of masonry structures according to the European codes and illustrates their application on a sample structure.