Abstract:
This paper presents a first approximation of the seismic vulnerability of a sixteenth century building which is part of the historical center of Morelia, Mexico. The city was declared World Heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1991. The modeling and analysis of the building was carried out using a three-dimensional elastic tetrahedral finite elements model which was subjected to probabilistic seismic demands with recurrences of 500 yrs and 1000 yrs in addition to real seismic records. The model was able to correctly identify cracking pattern in different parts of the temple due to gravitational forces. High seismic vulnerability of the arched window and the walls of the middle part of the bell tower of the temple was indicated by the seismic analysis of the model.