1 Visual Damage Interpretation of Buildings Using QuickBird Images Following the 2007 Peru Earthquake

A strong earthquake struck the city of Pisco in the coastal region of central Peru on 15 August 2007. The earthquake brought massive destruction to the regions of Ica and Lima. QuickBird, a satellite with a high-resolution sensor on board, captured clear images of Pisco both before and after the earthquake. In this paper, the authors performed visual damage detection of buildings using the high-resolution satellite images. The visual damage interpretation based on the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) was carried out building by building, comparing the pre-event and post-event images. Then the damage grades of about 10,800 buildings were classified. The result of the damage inspection was compared with field survey data, and the accuracy and usefulness of the high-resolution satellite images in damage detection was discussed