# Geotechnical and Structural Damages Caused by the 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthqu in Golbasi (Adyaman)
## 6 Structural Findings
### Damages Observed in Masonry Buildings in Golbasi  
Masonry structures, which have been built since the beginning of humanity and generally do not receive engineering services, are built by local craftsmen and workers using local materials and are common in rural areas. The seismic behavior of such structures is quite low. This situation caused significant damage to masonry buildings in the rural areas of Golbasi district, which was affected by the Kahramanmaras earthquakes, due to the lack of application of earthquake-resistant building design rules. The masonry structures in this region were generally made of stone or adobe, and either soil mortar or, rarely, cement mortar was used as a structural member connection. Figure 21: Damages caused by insufficient concrete strength and reinforcement detailing. Figure 22: Examples of shear cracks in infill walls. Damage to masonry structures generally occurs in the form of cracks in the walls, settlements in the foundation, and deterioration or deformation of the material used. The tensile strength of the wall material generally used in masonry structures is low, and the shear strength of the mortar is low. In order to ensure efficient load transfer, adherence must be ensured between the materials [54; 55; 56]. The most important cause of structural damage observed in the region is cracks, separation, and out-of-plane failure caused by shear stresses in the walls due to the earthquake effect. Within the scope of this study, masonry structures in the villages of Golbasi district were taken into consideration. In rural areas susceptible to earthquakes, masonry buildings make up a significant portion of the stock of existing structures, and earnten roofs are the typical roofing system utilized in these buildings. There have been varying degrees of damage to the load-bearing masonry walls and roof floors as a result of heavy earthen roofs. Examples of damage to heavy earthen roofs in the Golbasi are shown in Figure 24.  
Structural damage at different levels occurred in the structures built as a result of the use of different types of wall materials, inconsistencies in material dimensions, and poor workmanship in the load-bearing walls and between floors. Some examples are shown in Figure 25.  
The most common damage caused by an earthquake is the out-of-plane collapse of load-bearing walls. The most important reason for this is inadequate connections between external walls that intersect at right angles to each other, or between external walls and internal walls that meet perpendicularly to them. Examples of out-of-plane failures in structures are shown in Figure 26.  
Figure 24: Examples of damage to heavy earthen roofs in the region. Figure 23: Examples are of different types of damage (**a**) heavy overhang damage, (**b**) gable wall of the roof damage (**c**) strong beam–weak column damage. While the closeness of doors and windows to wall corners and/or large door and window openings cause shear cracks, different ground settlements on the ground where the building sits and the excess of the door and window openings cause settlement cracks. Examples of damage occurring in door and window openings as a result of the moment occurring in these gaps are shown in Figure 27.  
The insufficient connection between the layers forming the load-bearing walls caused these layers to split from each other during the earthquake. These damage examples are shown in Figure 28.  
Figure 27: Examples of damage to window corners. Figure 22:0 Examples of out-of-plane failures in structures. Figure 22:1 Examples of damage caused by insufficient connection between layers. Figure 22:2 Damage to the load-bearing wall caused by poor workmanship and the use of different wall materials. The coverings used on the load-bearing walls, which were observed in many slightly damaged buildings, were separated from the walls during the earthquake.