Given the high level of earthquake risk in California, all communities need to be prepared to respond to and recover from the impacts of a potentially devastating earthquake. Although there has been significant research on the estimation of direct economic losses immediately after an earthquake, there has not been enough research about long-term recovery, and even less in the development and application of computer simulation models. This is to some extent because data on building repair and recovery times from past earthquakes have not been systematically documented (Comerio M. , 2006). Moreover, the models developed so far have not successfully captured the complexity of the recovery process. Recovery depends on many factors (such as the socio-economic conditions of the affected area) that are usually difficult to measure, understand and apply to predicting or modelling the recovery process.
