**Abstract**

The types of damage caused by earthquakes in buildings are closely related to the design and building techniques with which they have been built and the quality of the construction materials used. Most of countries with moderate to high seismic risk areas have implemented earthquake-resistant standards to prevent the collapse of buildings and minimize the severity of the damage. However, every new strong shake that occurs around the world reveals bad construction practices that could have been avoided, and the inadequacy or non-existence of earthquake-resistant standards aimed at reducing vulnerability to non-catastrophic levels. Based on the EMS-98 scale, in this chapter we will analyze three case studies of the Ibero-Maghrebian region that have been using similar construction patterns with similar catastrophic results for buildings despite the different dates in which they occurred and the different earthquake-resistant standards: SW Cape St. Vincent earthquake of February 28, 1969; Al Hoceima earthquake of February 24, 2004; and Lorca earthquake of May 11, 2011.

**Keywords:** earthquakes, damage, buildings, standards, shear cracks, X-shaped cracks, plastic hinges, soft-story, vulnerability
