Toward the Seismic Evaluation of “Carol I” Royal Mosque in Constanța

Seismic protection of cultural heritage constructions is a priority in earthquake prone countries, due to their cultural, historical and touristic importance. The paper presents a first step toward the seismic evaluation of the “Carol I” Royal Mosque in Constanța, Romania: ambient vibration measurements and the assessment of the existing damage state induced by previous earthquakes and/or other actions (index R2 according to the Romanian code for seismic evaluation of existing buildings P100-3/2008). The mosque was built in 1910–1913 and has a masonry structure with a 26 m height reinforced concrete dome. It has an approximately 40 m height RC minaret and thus it is between the first civil constructions using reinforced concrete in Romania. The construction experienced the major earthquakes of 1940 (M _W  = 7.7) and 1977 (M _W  = 7.5) and several other medium size events originating from Vrancea subcrustal seismic source without significant damage. However, the long-term climatic aggression had a negative impact on the structure. Ambient vibration measurements were performed in the minaret. The results will be used for the proper calibration of the computational model for linear analysis.