THE APPLICATION OF PERFORMANCE TARGETS TO PROMOTE EFFECTIVE EARTHQUAKE RISK REDUCTION STRATEGIES

SUMMARY Performance Targets are essential tools to measure the effectiveness of the elements in a seismic safety strategy. However, certain non-structural elements, such as public awareness and training, are neither integrated into a coherent risk reduction strategy nor are they assessed to gauge their level of attainment. The paper argues for ‘trust’ to be balanced with ‘control’ in developing targets. The management of performance indicators in other fields can provide useful models for measuring seismic protection. The concept of ‘resilience’ is explored, since this over-arching focus can be applied to the three phases of disaster management, and within each phase objective performance needs to be assessed.