# A Hybrid ANN-GA Model for an Automated Rapid Vulnerability Assessment of Existing RC Buildings
## 2 Rapid Visual Screening Technique
The importance given to the quality of materials, workmanship, and the maintenance of the building is determined by the present condition and apparent quality. Therefore, it is classified as good, medium, and bad, respectively. According to the ASCE-41 (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017) [76], any story with a lateral stiffness less than 70% of its above story or less than 80% of the average stiffness of its immediate above stories is defined as a soft story. Given that the base floor is usually used for commercial purposes, the absence of sufficient stiffness in this floor compared to upper stories will result in a \"soft story\" in many buildings. In addition to the differences in stiffness and strength between stories, the variation in story height within a building is considered in the soft story/weak story parameter. Almost all earthquakes that occurred in Turkey have caused damage to structures with soft stories, and in case the structure did not have sufficient strength, total collapse of the structure and the soft story was induced [77; 78; 79; 75]. Another parameter that has been taken into account to reflect the effect of the frame and changing story areas that do not continue vertically is the vertical irregularity. In other words, this phenomenon can be considered as the case of a substantial change in the stiffness, mass, and dimensions or interruption of vertical structural elements, such as columns, or lateral resisting systems, such as RC shear walls within the structure [62; 77; 80]. Some instances of vertical irregularity are depicted in Figure 3.  
Another parameter is heavy overhangs, which indicate differences in story areas. Especially, heavy parquet balconies or overhangs made out of the frame systems of the buildings will create irregularity in the building mass. Buildings that are left towed on the ground story are also in the category of heavy overhangs. Therefore, it causes a change in the centre of mass of the buildings and increases the earthquake's effect on the building [75; 78; 81]. Examples of heavy overhangs are shown in Figure 4.  
For the plan (horizontal) irregularity/torsion effect parameter, irregularities that will cause torsion in the zoning plan are assumed. This parameter is decided by considering the external geometric features of the building. In structures with irregular geometry or out-of-plane discontinuity of the lateral resisting system [80; 82], additional torsion occurs due to torsional effects, which force the structure to twist [83; 84; 85]. Examples of this case of irregularity are shown in Figure 5.  
Figure 4: Examples of overhangs (**A**) with overhangs, (**B**) no overhangs, and (**C**) balcony with no overhangs. Figure 3: Instances of vertical irregularity. Filling RC frames with half-height infill walls, creating band windows, and using intermediate beams on stairwells are the foremost causes of short column formation. The main factors causing the formation of the short column can be counted as mezzanines, mechanical stories, sloping land, stepped foundations, spans adjacent to the column, and stair landings. This negativity parameter is one of the leading causes of earthquake damage [86; 87]. Some examples of short columns are illustrated in Figure 6.  
Another parameter is the hill/slope effect. If the building is clearly on a hill or on a slope with a high slope (more than 30\({}^{\circ}\)) it increases the effects of earthquakes to a certain extent. This situation, which can easily be observed from the street, should be taken into account when calculating the earthquake score of the building [71; 88]. The relation of the building to the neighbouring structures has also been taken into account in this study. The location of adjacent buildings can affect seismic performance due to collision. The buildings located on the side are adversely affected by this situation, and, if the story levels of the adjacent building are different, this negativity increases even more.