Assessment of Damage and Usability of Earthquake-Damaged Buildings: Experience of Slovenia

Within the seismic preparedness plan of Slovenia, prepared by the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, a methodology for the assessment of damage and usability of earthquake damaged buildings has been recently developed, based on the experiences obtained in the country and internationally. On the basis of damage evaluation, the buildings are classified into three categories of usability: usable, temporarily unusable, and unusable buildings. In Slovenia, a two level system of damage and usability assessment has been adopted. In order to provide information regarding the safety of occupancy of buildings and to propose immediate safety measures, rapid evaluation is carried out immediately after the earthquake. In the case of detailed evaluation, however, the earthquake-damaged buildings are inspected for a second time, and damage to structural elements and structure as a whole is inspected in detail.