The Thiel–Zsutty earthquake damage model,reformulated and extended

The Thiel–Zsutty (TZ) model predicts mean and the probability distribution function for earthquake damageability of building as a function of peak ground acceleration. ATC‐13‐1 provides an alternate damageability model based on modified Mercalli intensity characterization of ground motion and a beta distribution function for selected building types. This paper provides a reconciliation of the TZ and Applied Technology Council (ATC) methods. It is shown that the beta distribution can provide a continuous representation of the step‐wise TZ Markov distribution function. When the TZ model uses a compression factor for the standard deviation to represent the degree of uncertainty in the parameters, then the TZ results are found to be consistent with the ATC‐13‐1 distribution function for a specific compression factor of 0.40. This paper provides a new, simply applicable method to determine the damage distribution function for a given site, building type, and site conditions; using a beta distribution and allowing inclusion of the degree of confidence the assessor has in the determination of the parameters. New equations are provided to estimate the mean, standard deviation, and upper confidence limit of the damage ratio.