Statistical Methods for Earthquake Hazard Assessment and Risk Analysis

Hazard assessment and risk analysis of natural disasters requires detailed analysis of the available information. The raw material of such investigations are the past data which are often incomplete and insufficient. Due to the nature of the problem statistical methods have been increasingly used in hazard assessment and risk analysis of disasters such as earthquakes, high speed winds, and floods. Although most of the classical theories have been utilized for this purpose, there are still many important areas which have not received enough attention. This book is devoted to description of some statistical theories and methods and discussion of their relevance to hazard assessment of natural disasters in general and earthquakes in particular. Except for introductory material, different chapters of the book are made independent from each other whenever possible. This is done in the expense of covering the same material in several places. In doing so our goal was to make it easier for readers who seek to learn and apply a particular method. Also to facilitize this, theories utilized are described in detail in the corresponding chapters.