Smyth, Deodatis, Franco, He, & Gurvich, 2004. Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University. Based on a cost-benefit approach for evaluating seismic mitigation options for apartment buildings in Istanbul, Turkey, this paper presents a demonstration study for a hypothetical vulnerable school building. A probabilistic cost-benefit analysis provides a useful framework for assessing seismic mitigation measures, taking into consideration limited resources and social costs. The hypothetical school is analysed over a variety of time-horizons to determine the break-even point for investments for several seismic retrofitting options.
