Predicting building damage from dam failure using fragility curves

An updated building damage classification system for use in dam breach modelling has been developed based on a detailed assessment of the building damage caused during the Great East Japan Tsunami event. The method seeks to improve on the existing classification system, which adopted destroyed, partially damaged and inundated descriptors. The proposed classification has seven tiers: washed away, collapsed, complete damage, major damage, moderate damage, minor damage and no damage. Furthermore, the probability of each class occurring at individual properties can be calculated, rather than adopting rigid classification boundaries as in Binnie & Partners. This methodology is of necessity limited to detailed two-dimensional inundation and consequence analysis, and confirms the one-dimensional screening method in Risk Assessment for Reservoir Safety Management is reasonable.