What is "seismic risk"

n. An assessment of the probability that the social or economic consequences of an earthquake would exceed a specific value at a specific place and time; used in the planning of buildings etc.

Seismic risk refers to the risk of damage from earthquake to a building, system, or other entity. Seismic risk has been defined, for most management purposes, as the potential economic, social and environmental consequences of hazardous events that may occur in a specified period of time. 1 A building located in a region of high seismic hazard is at lower risk if it is built to sound seismic engineering principles. On the other hand, a building located in a region with a history of minor seismicity, in a brick building located on fill subject to liquifaction can be as high or higher risk.

A special subset is urban seismic risk which looks at the specific issues of cities. Risk determination and emergency response can be also be determined through the use of an Earthquake scenario.