Comparative Analysis of the Seismic Risk of Tunceli-Ovacık Rural Building Stock Using Different Rapid Screening Methods

Located at the intersection of the Yedisu Segment, a seismic gap, and the active Ovacık Fault, the Tunceli-Ovacık district is a region with a high earthquake risk but an unclear level of structural fragility. This study aims to assess the seismic safety of the rural building stock located in a seismically critical area. To this end, the Turkish Rapid Visual Screening (RVS), based on local parameters, and the Canadian Seismic Survey Method, widely used in international literature, were applied to determine the current condition of the buildings; the earthquake risk of the region was analyzed based on the results obtained. Furthermore, similarities and differences between the methods were comparatively examined to ensure scientific integrity. Within the scope of the study, 209 buildings representing the building typology in the region, 88% of which are masonry-mixed systems, were analyzed using both rapid assessment algorithms. While the overall risk distribution ratios were similar, building-level matching analyses showed a medium level of agreement between the methods. This indicates that the local and universal methods, rather than definitively verifying each other, provide complementary data by focusing on different parameters in the seismic assessment of the rural building stock. This study demonstrates that an integrated risk mapping approach, where different methodologies complement each other, can offer a rapid and reliable decision support mechanism for urban transformation strategies in cities with high earthquake risk, such as Tunceli.