Computer-Aided Pre- and Post-Earthquake Assessment of Buildings Involving Database Compilation, GIS Visualization, and Mobile Data Transmission

: The aim of this article is to present a computer-aided comprehensive strategy for the rapid visual inspection of buildings and the optimal prioritization of strengthening and remedial actions that are necessary prior to, and after, a major earthquake event, respectively. Based on the visual screening procedures used in the United States and past experience in seismic assessment of buildings in Greece and Turkey (the two countries with the highest seismic risk in Europe), a building inventory is first compiled; then a vulnerability ranking procedure that is specifically tailored to the prevailing construction practice in Southeast Europe is implemented into a multi-functional, georeferenced computer tool, that accommodates the management, evaluation, processing and archiving of the data stock gathered during the pre- and post-earthquake assessment process, and the visualization of its spatial distribution. The methodology proposed and the computer system developed is then applied to the city of Duzce, Turkey, a city strongly damaged during the devastating 1999 earthquake.

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