| Abstract: | The proper choice of the acceptable seismic risk requires an accurate cost-benefit analysis. As is well known these analyses present considerable difficulties if one wishes to face the problem in a general way from the technical point of view. Besides, there are no generally accepted criteria for formulating a quantitative evaluation of the intangibles, among which the most important is the risk to human life. However, it appears indispensable that research should be started in the field which leads to some numerical results In this paper a simplified analytical model is proposed and the problem of intangibles is discussed. The basic idea is that the comparison with other risks is the most realistic instrument for the choice of an acceptable level of the specific considered risk. The conclusion reached is that a fundamental index for comparison and decision is the incremental cost of investment necessary to save, on average, one human life a year. An evaluation of such an index, valid as a first approximation, is given for this simplified model. |
