Although Portugal has been identified as a moderate-hazard country with respect to earthquakes, the fact is that the country is susceptible to earthquake occurrence and damage in the future, and more information is required regarding vulnerability. Given this information, the broad question of the research interest became: What did the local populations do to repair and retrofit the buildings where they were living? The question concerns the identification of which architectural elements and techniques did the local population use to repair and retrofit their houses. The research will address the query related to the identification of seismic resistant architecture elements that can be identified in the in-use vernacular heritage. It will also respond to the question whether ‘Local Seismic Culture’ (LSC) can or cannot be consistently identified in Portugal.