Earthquake Proof Buildings

Location is key! The ground below a structure can be as important a safety consideration as its construction. Bedrock absorbs more wave energy than sandy soils or landfill, so buildings on solid rock will be much less affected than those built on softer soils.

Location is Key! If softer soils have water in them, they can become a little like quicksand during an earthquake. The soil loses its strength and behaves like a liquid, a process called liquefaction. Buildings on top of liquefied soil sink, and often topple.

Earthquake safe Structures Earthquake resistant buildings

Braces These braces help the frame of the building to resist tension and compression from earthquake surface waves

Braces

Shock Absorbers or Dampers Added to the framework to dissipate and absorb the vibration of the earthquake

Counterweights (tuned mass dampers) Tall buildings like skyscrapers sway in the wind. Placing a TMD weighing between 300-800 tons near the top helps reduce the sway because the TMD swings opposite the sway of the building.

Counterweights They don’t stop a building from falling over, but they do help prevent you from feeling seasick in the top floors on a windy day. Tapei Counterweight

= Base Isolators Dampers can be added that will allow the building to stay still while they move from side to side or up and down

Flexible materials The more flexible a building is, the less energy is required to keep it from toppling or collapsing when the earth's shaking makes it sway. The materials a building is constructed from determine its strength and flexibility. Wood and steel have more give than stucco, unreinforced concrete, or masonry, and they are favored materials for building in fault zones.

Flexible Materials Earthquake Shake test

A theoretical design! It is made stronger by the cross bracing of the walls, the strong core of the building and walls made out of reinforced concrete. There are also shock absorbers in the base of the building. The moat is to allow the building to sway.

Another design!

Application LA's Most Earthquake proof building

Other things that can be done Windows made from shatter proof glass Bookshelves screwed to wall Heavy objects attached tables and walls Pictures screwed to walls rather than hung on nails