Geotechnical Aspects on Seismic Risk Assessment in Cusco, Peru

Results from many efforts to better understand the nature of ground motions and the seismic behavior or structures in Cusco, Peru, give now the possibility to combine several sources of information to produce estimates of seismic hazard and risk. A model is presented which estimates expected damage, based on geotechnical characteristics and intensity-damage relations derived for several types of buildings representative of Cusco’s constructions. The study area was divided into smaller sections covering the whole city. This information, along with the geographic distribution of soil types and construction density, allows computation of expected losses during a given event for sites distributed throughout the city.