2000 Volume 2 Pages 139-144
Building damage assessments have significant roles in disaster relief system in Japan. Three large-scale damage assessments were conducted in the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster as follows: 1) Initial damage estimation for applying Disaster Relief Law, 2) Building safety evaluation for protecting human life and 3) Housing damage assessment for Victim Certificate. These assessments, which were conducted by public sector, have much influenced to the victims. Therefore, it is important to study the appropriate categories for effective damage assessment. We analyze assessment categories picked out from various building damage surveys for wooden structures and clarify a correlation between damage assessment purpose and category.