Structural and earthquake engineering
Structural and earthquake engineering designs buildings, bridges and other structures to carry loads safely, including those from earthquakes, wind and floods. It determines how much damage the built environment suffers when hazards occur. Cities and Built Environment stewards this page for the Nexus Consortium.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04The methodWhat structural and earthquake engineering covers
- 05Reference practiceStructural engineering is governed by codes and performance-based methods
- 06In systemic risk workFrom building codes to portfolio loss
- 07Applied inPlatforms that apply this method
GCRI · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Structural and earthquake engineering designs buildings, bridges and other structures to carry loads safely, including those from earthquakes, wind and floods. Structural engineering supplies vulnerability functions for loss models and guides retrofit priorities. In the Nexus Consortium, Cities and Built Environment stewards its canonical page, and 3 other platforms apply it, including Disaster Resilience and Recovery as well as Critical Infrastructure.
Disaster exposure and reach in Chile.
Where response must travel furthest from a large city, with the roads, airports and ports that carry relief, shown for Chile as an example geography for this subject.
What structural and earthquake engineering covers.
- 01
Core methods
structural analysis; seismic design; performance-based engineering; fragility and vulnerability modelling; structural health monitoring; retrofit assessment.
- 02
Data and instruments
material and component test results; building inventories; strong-motion records; post-event damage surveys; structural monitoring sensors.
- 03
Validation
Designs are checked against codes, laboratory and shake-table tests, and observed performance after events. Peer review is used for unusual structures.
- 04
Limits
Existing building stock is often poorly documented. Interaction of multiple hazards and degradation over time is incompletely represented.
- 05
Use in risk decisions
Structural engineering supplies vulnerability functions for loss models and guides retrofit priorities. It links hazard intensity to disruption of housing, services and supply chains.
Structural engineering is governed by codes and performance-based methods.
| Reference | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Eurocodes and national building codes | Design against hazard loads |
| FEMA P-58 | Performance-based seismic assessment |
| Hazus | Regional loss estimation methodology |
From building codes to portfolio loss.
Codes protect life safety in new buildings; most risk sits in existing stock built to older codes or none. Regional loss estimation combines hazard, building inventory and fragility curves. Systemic analysis adds what damaged buildings mean for services, housing and recovery.
- Use fragility curves suited to local construction types.
- Distinguish life safety from functional recovery.
- Account for non-engineered buildings.
- Applications on Cities and Built Environment and Disaster Resilience and Recovery.
Platforms that apply this method.
Who maintains this page.
Cities and Built Environment stewards structural and earthquake engineering: it keeps this description current and reviews how the method is applied across the platforms.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Damage ratio | The cost of repair divided by the replacement value of a structure. |
| Code era | The period of building code under which a structure was designed, used as a vulnerability modifier. |
| Rapid safety evaluation | A quick inspection that tags buildings as safe, restricted or unsafe after a disaster. |
| Fragility function | A curve giving the probability of damage states for a structure at different hazard intensities. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Where this page leads across the Consortium.
- Applied inGCRIStructural engineering for recoveryApplied in Disaster Resilience and Recovery.
- Applied inGCRIStructural engineering for infrastructureApplied in Critical Infrastructure.
- Applied inGCRIStructural engineering for citiesApplied in Cities and Built Environment.
- Applied inGRAStructural and earthquake engineering for reinsurance and catastropheApplied in Reinsurance and Catastrophe.
Questions and answers.
Why does one institution host every method page?
How do I suggest a correction to a method page?
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.