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This paper is focused on the seismic risk assessment of Buzau County in Romania. This county overlays the most active seismic source in the region, namely, the Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic source which has produced nine earthquakes with moment magnitude MW≥7.0 in the last two centuries. Over 40% of the population within this county inhabits traditional adobe buildings for which there are very few available fragility or vulnerability functions in the literature. To overcome this shortcoming, in this study, both fragility and vulnerability functions are developed based on recent experimental research performed at the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest. The seismic risk assessment is performed using two approaches based on both fragility and vulnerability functions. The results of the analyses show considerable differences between the two risk assessment methods and a significant influence of the fragility of the adobe structures on the seismic risk results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the economic feasibility of strengthening several types of low-code RC structures in Bucharest is analyzed. Using recently compiled information regarding the characteristics of the residential building stock of Bucharest built in the period 1963–1977, an updated seismic risk assessment is performed. Moreover, analytical fragility functions are obtained for each structural system by employing the same approach that relies on the pushover curve. Subsequently, a logic-tree approach involving previously derived fragility functions is employed for seismic risk computations. Three economic loss models and two casualty loss models were implemented in the risk assessment procedure. The smallest mean annual loss is obtained for the medium-rise large panels structures that had very good behavior during the Vrancea 1977 earthquake. The analysis of the economic feasibility of strengthening shows that the RC soft-story structures appear as the most feasible to be strengthened because the range of costs of the strengthening works is the largest in this case. Correspondingly, the RC dual structures appear as the least feasible for strengthening works among the considered structural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]