The Vulnerability Concept Revisited

Abstract

Detailed assessment of the seismic bearing capacity of an individual building is extremely costly and time-consuming. Collective assessment techniques, rapidly applicable (the so called methods) are used instead, in the case of large building-populations at risk. This paper is but an attempt to describe the philosophy of such rough risk evaluations via vulnerability studies. Thus, a better insight may be gained; moreover, several empirical vulnerability methods may become amenable to a common rational framework.