Sensitivity of seismic loss assessment: a case study for wood-frame house in Richmond, British Columbia

This study extends an existing seismic loss model of Goda and Hong for multiple buildings by incorporating an updated seismic hazard model, a new spatial correlation model of response spectra for subduction earthquakes, and probabilistic models of the maximum inter-story drift ratio of wood-frame houses. The extended model is applied to 1415 existing houses in Richmond, British Columbia. The extended model produces more realistic seismic loss estimates. A series of sensitivity analyses is carried out to identify the most influential model components and to provide a range of seismic loss estimates that are based on different but valid assumptions/models. The results highlight the significance of using the updated seismic hazard model and adequate spatial correlation models; the latter is particularly important for the upper tail of probability distribution of aggregate seismic loss. Another key model component is the ultimate deformation capacity of wood-frame houses.