Earthquake loss

Earthquake loss estimation is usually performed in terms of a "Damage Ratio" (DR) which is a ratio of the earthquake damage dollar amount to total value of a buildingcite book|title= Financial Management of Earthquake Risk|author=EERI Endowment Subcommittee|date=May 2000|publisher=EERI Publication|isbn=0943198216] . For a long time, it was associated with a collection of mass inventory data and was based, mostly, on experts' opinions. It looked, therefore, more like an art than a science. language. Besides, they are based, at least partially, on experts' judgments valid just for an average construction and, therefore, most applicable for a statistically large number of facilities [http://www.ecs.csun.edu/~shustov/Topic8.htm] .

There is, also, the "Damage Ratio Charts Method" which is based on a consistent quantitative analysis targeting a prediction of "damage ratios" and employs a limited number of well-understood earthquake engineering parameters cite book|title= Future Seismic Codes and Earthquake Insurance, Proc. 66th Annual SEAOC Convention, San Diego, CA|author=Shustov, V.|date=1997|publisher=SEAOC] . It establishes a direct theoretical relationship between the standard structural design procedure and the expected damage characteristics required by insurers. The method is user-friendly: its application, supported by a site-specific evaluation, does not take more than a few days.

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