Assessing Building Habitability after an Earthquake Using Building Typology and Damage Grade. Application in Lorca, Spain

The present study proposes a statistical methodology to rate the habitability of different types of buildings after an earthquake. The first step was to rank variables that affect the vulnerability of a building and formulate a statistical study with a discrimination index that makes it possible to identify buildings as habitable or non-habitable. This ranking applied the criteria established in various international guidelines that are used to distinguish between habitable (undamaged/no structural damage) and non-habitable buildings (structural damage). The proposed methodology was applied to a database with information about buildings and damage grade experienced following the 2011 earthquake in Lorca. The approach presented could be extended to other regions where neccessary data are available.

Automated summary

The present study proposes a statistical methodology to rate the habitability of different types of buildings after an earthquake. The approach ranks variables that affect building vulnerability and formulates a statistical study with a discrimination index to identify habitable or non-habitable buildings.