Emergency Earthquake Damage and Usability Assessment of Buildings

An earthquake damage inspection form as well as criteria for assessing earthquake damage and usability of buildings under emergency conditions are presented. These criteria and the inspection form are key elements of the emergency inspection and have been based on recent experiences from damaging earthquakes in the Balkan region. They have been developed with a number of objectives in mind and notably the efficient use in the field and the reliable assessment of a builging's capacity. Since the emergency inspections of building damage will be a large scale operation, organizational aspects of this operation are discussed and specific recommendations are made.