Each earthquake represents a particular moment in the history of the affected region. It is an event
from which it is necessary to withdraw as much knowledge as possible. The seismicity in Italy reaches
frequently high values, what makes it a country particularly affected by this kind of natural disasters.
Historical constructions (in particular masonry ones) are structures that show a high vulnerability to the
type of loads introduced in the sequence of a seismic event. This dissertation is focused on the effects
of the 6th of April 2009 earthquake that affected the region of Abruzzo, Italy, with a special attention
being paid to the cultural heritage of the region, in particular churches. During the emergency period
that follows the earthquake, many churches and other historical constructions (towers, walls, palaces,
etc…) were surveyed by the workgroup of the University of Padova. Some of the results collected
were inserted in a database and are discussed in this thesis. A statistical work is presented, ilustrating
the referred information, focusing in the data related with the damage assessment of the considered
monuments, in order to understand the response of these structures to this particular action. One of
the surveyed churches (S. Pietro Apostolo in Coppito) was studied in more detail. This study was
composed by an historical research which paid a special attention to the several transformations
performed on the church throughout time; by the analysis of the activated mechanisms and of its level
of activation, according to the abacus present on the 1st level form (“Scheda per il rilievo del danno ai
beni culturali – Chiese”); and by a simplified macro elements analyze of the church, using the program
c-Sisma.
