An earthquake can have various effects. These effects might include a drop of many meters across a fault line or a chasm opening up. Hence, it is not possible to design an earthquake proof building that will resist all the possible earthquakes. However, it is possible to build structures empowering earthquake resistant features by making use of earthquake engineering techniques that will help increase the chances of survival of both the building and its occupants.
What makes buildings and structures fail in earthquakes?
An earthquake can be one sudden movement of the ground or a series of short waves at short intervals. It moves the ground up and down or side to side. The buildings and structures are not resistant to these movements, unless the earthquake proof measures have been taken into account while designing and constructing the building.
Most of the times, extra weight is added to a building or structure by adding extra floors, inside partitions to make smaller rooms, rocks piled on top of the roofs to stop them from blowing away. This extra weight is capable of producing great forces on the structure and helping it to collapse.
How can buildings be made earthquake proof?
For any building or structure to be earthquake proof, their foundation has to be resistant to sideways loads. The load will be lesser if the building is light. In order to reduce the load of the building, you need to focus on the top as maximum weight is on the roof. However possible, the roof should be made of a material that is extremely light-weight. Steel is the perfect material for rooftops as it is known to be lighter when compared to concrete.
Steel structures are known to be earthquake proof as they are made of steel components that come in a variety of shapes, such as angles, plates, and beams. Steel offers the highest ductility and allows the resistant building steel structures to bend considerably without breaking. When you have steel structures, you can be assured that your resistant building steel structures will behave well during an earthquake and not cause much of damage.
The steel structures are said to be earthquake proof but they cannot be guaranteed to be 100% resistant to any possible earthquakes. However, the resistant building steel structures might have the best possible chance of survival and would provide greater safety to the people in the building.
Image Source: www.e-architect.co.uk
