SEISMIC VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS USING THE SCORE ASSIGNMENT METHOD, PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS

A key element in every loss estimation study is the assessment of the seismic vulnerability of a population of buildings in the least time and based on the available information. The predicted vulnerability assessment is one of the principal methods for this purpose, a method that refers to the evaluation of the expected performance of building classes based on calculations and design specifications. A description of the available methods for the seismic vulnerability evaluation of the existing buildings is presented followed by a look to the application of the score assignment procedure in different countries. The up-todate available tool in North America for the rapid evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of a group of buildings known as FEMA154/155 methodology is based mostly on the constructional practices and earthquake damages observations in California. However the engineering practices in other regions might be quite different and the dissimilarities between the seismic hazard representations in the American codes and those introduced in the seismic codes of other countries, diminish the validity of the results of any rapid visual evaluation, by just applying the FEMA154 scores to those regions. New series of scores are developed for Canada by starting off with the adaptation of the FEMA 154 procedure to the seismicity of the country. Some recommendations are presented for the improvement and application of the procedure in other earthquake-prone countries such as Iran.