QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF BUILDING DAMAGE BASED ON DATA INTEGRATION OF SEISMIC INTENSITIES AND SATELLITE SAR IMAGERY

Abstract

A method to integrate information from seismic intensity and satellite SAR imagery has been formulated for post-earthquake estimation of building damage. By applying Bayesian updating theory, initial estimates based on seismic intensity are updated using the satellite SAR intensity imagery which detects the difference between pre- and post-event ground surface conditions due to building damage. Likelihood functions and fragility functions for damage estimation have been modeled on the basis of data from the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nambu earthquake. Making the best use of the two information sources, building damage rates and their uncertainty can be estimated quantitatively.