Cultural heritage and seismic disasters: Assessment methods and damage types

The identification of adequate evaluation methodologies of earthquake damages to Cultural Heritage is a highly topical subject, considering the frequency and intensity of the seismic phenomenon, in recent times, in Italy. The subject is related to the broader theme of the attribution of a “monetized” economic value to the cultural assets, widely investigated in the appraisal and evaluation Italian disciplines. In this perspective, the article aims to verify the principles and evaluation methods for the monetary assessment of the damages caused by earthquake disasters. Starting from the definition of cultural assets as in the Italian legislative system, the article highlights the characteristics and several values of cultural assets; it then defines, in a systematic way, the damage and its differentiation, subsequently discussing the main damage evaluation approaches.