The February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes exposed the vulnerabilities of existing RC structures, causing thousands of buildings to collapse or sustain severe damage, especially in the hardest-hit provinces. Cross-laminated timber (CLT), one of the industrial wood materials, is used as an alternative to RC in buildings in earthquake zones around the world due to its lightness and many positive features. The aim of the study is to examine the dynamic behavior of multi-storey residential buildings built with the CLT shear wall system, with limited application in Turkey, under earthquake loads and to draw attention to the material selection and sizing to be used in the structural elements of earthquake-resistant buildings. Using TimberTech (2022) software, a five-story building with CLT walls was analyzed under linear dynamic conditions. The study shows while the model provides all the verifications in the solution according to Eurocode for soil type C, it is inadequate under the seismic data of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake.

Steel braced frame systems (SBFs) having high stiffness and high strength are commonly utilized due to their resistance to lateral seismic forces in regions with high seismicity. In this study, concentrically braced frames (CBFs) having different bracing configurations are used to obtain the significance of the pulse period associated with near-fault (NF) ground motion by time-history dynamic analysis. Besides, far-fault (FF) ground motions are also used to compare with NF ground motion results according to chancing bracing configurations. To achieve dynamic responses of steel frames with different concentric bracings under NF ground motions, which especially have small, medium, and long pulse periods, 3-story and 4-span CBFs having different bracing configurations were selected as an example. 4 FF and 12 NF ground motions having different pulse durations were chosen to evaluate the dynamic response of concentrically braced frames. The results showed that peak ground acceleration (PGA) could be identified as a key parameter that controls the response of braced frames under FF ground motions. In addition, the ratio of the pulse duration to the first mode period is the dominant parameter when this ratio is only greater than 1.0 under the NF ground motions.

Historical masonry minarets are highly vulnerable to seismic actions due to their slender geometry, limited tensile capacity, and material heterogeneity. However, their response to near-fault ground motions characterized by velocity pulses remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates the seismic response of the historical Tavanlı Mosque Minaret (1894, Trabzon, Türkiye) subjected to pulse-like (PL) and non-pulse-like (NPL) near-fault ground motions. A three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) was developed in ANSYS Workbench and systematically calibrated using empirical formulations to represent the current dynamic condition of the structure. Seismic performance was evaluated through linear dynamic analyses in terms of displacement demands, principal stress distribution, and drift-ratio-based performance levels. The results indicate that model calibration significantly modifies the dynamic characteristics, increasing the fundamental frequency from 0.734 Hz to 1.126 Hz and reducing displacement demands by approximately 35–76% across the considered records. Despite this improvement, PL ground motions consistently generate more critical deformation demands than NPL motions, frequently exceeding Collapse Prevention (CP) limits even when Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) values are relatively low. A key finding is that seismic demand cannot be reliably predicted by peak intensity measures or pulse-period ratios ($T_p/T_1$) alone; rather, velocity-related parameters and pulse coherence govern the structural response. These results demonstrate that integrating empirical model calibration with pulse-sensitive seismic analysis is essential for reliable seismic assessment and conservation planning of slender historical masonry structures located in near-fault regions. The study offers a systematic framework that integrates model calibration and pulse-sensitive seismic analysis for evaluating the drift-controlled response of slender historical masonry minarets in near-fault regions.

On February 6, 2023, two powerful quakes (with magnitudes of Mw7.7 and Mw7.6) struck the Eastern Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ), separated by around nine hours. Both earthquakes occurred in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province and were felt in many countries surrounding them. In addition, these quakes resulted in substantial losses of life and property in 11 provinces along the EAFZ. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ground motions and discuss Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings’ performance in Hatay, one of the most earthquake-affected provinces. On-site investigations revealed that many buildings were damaged in the first Pazarcık earthquake (Mw7.7), and many of them collapsed following the second Elbistan earthquake (Mw7.6). Furthermore, many of the defects uncovered by scientists in previous earthquakes were also observed in these earthquakes. The study also recommended revising the latest Turkish response spectrum for the earthquake region.

The type of lateral load-resisting system plays a critical role in controlling the seismic response of steel structures subjected to strong ground motions. In this research, the structural performance of three-dimensional (3D) steel buildings designed with concentrically braced frames (CBFs) and eccentrically braced frames (EBFs) under near-fault ground excitations (NFGEs). A 3D steel building with dual bracing systems, including inverted-V-shaped EBFs and CBFs, were designed under the influence of NFGE. The response of 4 and 8-story structures subjected to NFGE was assessed using nonlinear time history analyses (NTHAs), which were categorized into small-pulse (SP), medium-pulse (MP), and large-pulse (LP) scenarios. This research aims to assess how pulse characteristics affect lateral story and inter-story displacements in buildings of different heights, as these displacement demands are critical indicators of seismic performance and structural strength degradation. This study provides a systematic evaluation of the seismic response of low- and mid-rise CBF and EBF systems under different pulse-type near-fault ground motions, highlighting the role of lateral story displacements as a key performance indicator. The results demonstrate that seismic performance is highly dependent on building height and pulse characteristics, with EBFs showing superior performance in mid-rise buildings under medium-pulse excitations, while CBFs are more effective in low-rise structures, emphasizing the need for height- and pulse-specific bracing strategies.