I was somewhat surprized with the fog in Groningen upon my arrival. This is not the fog that covers the beautiful landscapes of the northern Netherlands in the evening and in the early morning. No… It is the fog that obscures the real aspects of the earthquake problem in the region and is crystallised …

Collapses of school or dormitory buildings experienced in recent earthquakes raise the issue of safety as a major challenge for decision makers. A school building is ‘just another structure’ technically speaking, however, the consequences of a collapse in an earthquake could lead to social reactions …

The lack of in-depth understanding of the seismic behavior and ductility of precast concrete structures makes it difficult to reach to ductility demand which could be exhibited during an earthquake. The limitations are mainly related to the beam-to-column connections as the main load transfer paths. …

Deformation quantities such as strain, curvature and displacement are of paramount importance in seismic design within a performance-based procedure that aims to control the structural response at predefined levels of inelastic action. Given the importance of curvature expressions independent of strength …