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This study explores seismic fragility which is evaluated using the recommendations of the SYNER-G research project. The study is focused on the seismic risk assessment of lifelines from Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. The damage sustained by the lifelines in Bucharest during the major Vrancea intermediate-depth event of March 1977 is presented. Lifelines are a critical element necessary which can influence considerably the emergency management, as well as the post-earthquake recovery. The seismic exposure for the gas, electricity, sewage and water networks is evaluated using publicly available information collected from various sources. Bucharest residents surveyed indicated water and electricity as the most important lifelines. Finally, seismic risk metrics, in terms of repair rates and probabilities associated with various damage states are evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulated earthquake catalogue for the Vrancea intermediate depth seismic source.

The findings show significant differences between the observed and the empirical repair rate for water pipes has been observed for most of the materials, with the exception of small diameter cast iron pipes. It has been observed that the mean repair rate for the gas pipe network is smaller as compared to the water and sewage systems. The largest mean repair rate per km of pipe network was obtained for the sewage system. The study recommends that seismic risk assessment of the RC chimneys and cooling towers should be performed considering their age. In addition, the evaluation of the three thermoelectric powerplants built in Bucharest before the Vrancea 1977 seismic event and which are still in use today should be performed, as well.