The damage or survival of structures after major earthquakes provide information that can alter subsequent design, construction and usage. Presently, investigations of the same data often produce conflicting reasons for the existence of the final state. The project is to develop a methodology to assess various explanatory scenarios that are constructed after an earthquake. This investigation will deal with such subjective information as the quality of the design form, the labor and financial climate and the effect of these features on the likelihood of the existence of errors and subsequent malfunctioning of a structure. Also measurable information will be merged with the subjective evaluation to provide a basis for assessing the relative merits of the scenarios. The research will enhance the fundamental understanding of the state of the structure before the earthquake and the modeling of the structure which exhibits the final response.
