ABSTRACT
The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program provides the nation with a federal policy and action context for taking steps to reduce losses from future earthquakes. Land use planning involves societal issues as acceptable risk and the social benefits to be derived by the uninhibited use of the land as a resource. While land use planning can be an effective way to reduce seismic hazards, reducing earthquake risk also often demands knowledge about design characteristics and construction practices for buildings. Land use planning and "seismic risk maps are usually translated into building codes". Building codes can also be used to address the repair and retrofit of existing structures. Such attention is warranted, since it is reasonable to expect that buildings built prior to earthquake-resistant codes have a considerably higher risk of damage in an earthquake than those built to newer codes.
