Decision-makers are the individuals and agencies involved in the planning and design/construct process, such as planning or regulatory agencies and owners. Earthquake engineering is a multi-disciplinary field and enables us to locate earthquake sources. Research areas include occurrence modelling, geophysical modelling, ground motion modelling, stochastic and nonlinear dynamic analysis, and design and experimentation.

In recent years, considerable efforts have been placed on introducing mechanistic models to occurrence and attenuation phenomena. Researchers have developed seismic hazard maps and structural design criteria. Moreover, they have significantly contributed to the development of models and methods to assess earthquake vulnerability and enable risk assessment. Damage and vulnerability models are developed for individual structures within the context of performance-based engineering, and more generic vulnerability models are formulated for applications in wider regions with many types of structures. Various geophysical models are being considered for simulating strong ground motion, and recorded motions from recent earthquakes are being studied for their characteristics and damage potential. Recent seismological studies have focused on the understanding and characterization of strong ground motion in the near field. The effect of near-field motion on structures has been previously been observed and has been considered particularly important. From an engineering perspective, we need further research discussing the use of seismic demand through convolution. The seismic demand needs to be combined with a structural capacity to assess structural reliability. The major components of this research are the developments of damage models for a structural response, characterization of ground motion based on damage potential, reliability evaluation, seismic risk analysis, and development of design parameters.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together original research discussing innovative design tools incorporating modelling techniques in earthquake engineering. Submissions showcasing new theoretical results, as well as numerical and experimental applications of existing theories, are welcome. The other objective of this Special Issue is to improve our knowledge on this topic through fundamental and applied research. We hope that this Special Issue can be a useful resource for decision-makers, enabling them to find solutions to reduce seismic hazards.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Dynamic stability considerations and P-delta effects
• Evaluation of the effects of stiffness, strength and irregularities in plan and elevation
• Cumulative damage modelling
• Reliable and updated information on seismic hazards and risks
• Earthquake hazard modelling and forecasting for disaster risk reduction
• Seismic intensity estimation using macroseismic surveys and instrumental data
• Probabilistic safety assessment of structures
• Failure probability of the structures
• Uncertainties and probabilistic resources of seismic hazard analysis
• Advances in seismic hazard assessment