Resilience-based assessment of seismic risk by investigating the socioeconomic and structural earthquake engineering factors

Abstract

Various impacts of earthquakes in different countries with distinct social and economic conditions (SEC) indicate that seismic risk is affected by SEC. It is also well accepted that seismic risk depends, through the quality of structures in built environments, on structural earthquake engineering (SEE) actions. The consequences of earthquakes correspondingly affect SEC and the status of SEE, at least by attracting attention to engineering solutions that aim to overcome the continuing challenge of safety against earthquakes. SEC and SEE are therefore two fundamental dimensions of sustainable seismic resilience, which is the key earthquake disaster risk reduction strategy. This paper explores resilience-related interactions between SEC and SEE to help humanity more effectively cope with the earthquake challenge. Ten earthquake-prone countries are selected as case studies. SEC are statistically evaluated based on some related criteria, including migration rate and monetary flow. The status of SEE is thoroughly investigated by considering both direct and indirect factors. The application of seismic isolation, the well-known SEE solution, and completeness of open street map projects are the studied direct factors. Death tolls and economic losses are considered as the indirect factors relating to inappropriate and inadequate preparedness against earthquakes. Interactions between SEC and SEE are discussed through detailed comparisons of the studied measures, and seismic risk is assessed based on resilience. It is shown that disaster risk reduction essentially requires economic support by the government and this can occur if the society is aware of the need for implementing effective SEE techniques in civil engineering practice.