This paper presents a variety of methodologies that are used to detect the location and amount of structural damage using dynamic measurements of the input and of the structural response. One approach (and its variations) starts from an identified first order model of a structural system and obtain estimation of the structure’s mass, damping and stiffness matrices. For these approaches, both the full instrumentation option and the partial instrumentation option are presented. An alternative approach for the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the structure is based on Evolution Strategies. Once these dynamic characteristics have been determined, structural damage is assessed by comparing the undamaged and damaged estimation of such parameters. Both these methodologies are tested on simulated numerical results and their effectiveness in determining structural damage is evaluated.