Earthquake-resilient design: balancing safety and analytical vulnerability models

This chapter explores seismic considerations in the design of buildings and infrastructure, emphasizing the need to address not only structural safety but also system resilience and reliability under seismic hazards. It examines when and where seismic design should be implemented, the importance of incorporating resilience for critical infrastructure and urban systems, and the integration of reliability to ensure continued functionality and rapid recovery. The discussion includes the selection between empirical and analytical methods for seismic vulnerability assessment, highlighting the limitations of data-driven approaches in regions and the advantages of analytical modelling. Together, these perspectives form a comprehensive framework for seismic risk mitigation in structural and infrastructure design.