Internationally different classification schemes are available for the assessment of structural damage due to the different natural hazards. Due to their heterogeneity, these classification schemes are insufficiently suited for the consideration of damage in the sense of a multi hazard approach.
A unified system is necessary for the evaluation of the building vulnerability and the damage prognosis due the different natural hazards. The unified system transfers repeatedly observed damage patterns into a scheme of damage grades. With this instrument, the structural damage can be uniformly evaluated and the relationship to the input parameters can be established.
Following the concept of the European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS-98) for earthquake damage, it is distinguished between structural and non-structural damage to which characteristic damage patterns can be assigned in the form of damage grades.
A general classification scheme for building damage is presented, which enables a comparison of the damage due to the individual natural hazards. On the basis of real observed damage cases, the typical damage patterns for the natural hazards flood, tsunami and wind are highlighted and converted into harmonized classification schemes for damage grades.
For the first time, a harmonized set of instruments is available for evaluation of damage cases on a building stock as a result of different natural hazards according to criteria standardized in engineering terms. The outlook refers to the damage prognosis due to the different natural hazards and their possible sequences.