ABSTRACT To investigate the correlationf between residual drift and remaining seismic capacity, 24 reinforced concrete pier specimens were subjected to lateral load reversals. By normalizing the specified drift against the value at specimen failure, the normalized residual drift exhibits a strong correlation with the normalized lateral drift, thereby providing a predictive model for residual drift. After determining the remaining seismic capacity derived from energy dissipation, a linear correlation was established between the normalized residual drift and the remaining seismic capacity. Consequently, normalized residual drift was selected as a performance indicator for seismic assessment, enabling the quantitative determination of structural damage states.