In the field of earthquake engineering, seismic risk assessment is a very critical topic, whether it concerns single buildings or, at a larger scale, entire areas of a town, often destroyed as highlighted by recent earthquakes.

In the literature, several methods are available for seismic risk assessment, requiring more or less data, which may be found more or less easily. Nowadays, the scientific community has also developed expeditious and simplified methods, which with a few easily available data, even with the help of local governments, make it possible, for example, to assess the seismic risk of portions of the territory, such as historic centers.

This paper aims to compare different expeditious methods of seismic risk assessment through their application to a specific case study, i.e., the city of Cosenza (southern Italy).

Research activities are conducted within the framework of the Italian Project GENESIS “Seismic risk manaGEmeNt for the touristic valorization of thE hiStorIcal centers of Southern Italy”, whose main purpose is to provide guidelines on intervention strategies through cost-benefit analyses that combine the need for seismic risk reduction and conservation with tourism enhancement.

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Keywords: Expeditious Methods, Historical Centers, Masonry, Seismic Risk Assessment, Territorial Level, Seismic Vulnerability.