What is the best material for an earthquake proof foundation for a house?

Answer 1

Houses can only be made to resist earthquakes. They can only be designed and constructed to permit a minimum amount of damage when a quake hits. A big enough quake will destroy about any structure. It may be possible to build an "earthquake proof" house by making it extremely small and building it out of moderately thick reinforced concrete, welded plate steel or something like that which is both strong and rigid. If an appropriately designed structure was sitting on an appropriate pad (but separate from it), a huge quake would only succeed in moving the house around because it would be too small and strong to "break" under the stress. If such a structure was built, a quake would probably, at most, shear off (or tear off flexible) water, gas and waste water lines while making a mess out of the inside.

A structure like the one described would probably be minimally functional and no fun to live in. It may be possible to engineer a "floating" rigid structure out of other materials, but anything on this order would cost a mint. You might always build the whole thing out of rubber and dump the rigid idea. That way when the shaking stops, everything returns to its normal shape. Everything on the inside would be a mess, though. Those (the completely rigid and "unbreakable" structure or the completely "flexible" one) are the two ideas that will withstand a quake. Combining the two will involve trade-offs that will almost certainly defeat the project. Think about this problem and you may come up with other ideas. They are also are made of steel, fiber glass, and wood

carboard

steal

your mom's apron

shoe laces in stress points

Answer 2

Some buildings are designed to be earthquake proof- especially in high risk areas like California or Japan- but they can only stand up to a certain force of earthquake, which is judged on the Richter scale.

Some systems that have been designed to reduce earthquake damage in buildings include-

* Concrete/steel reinforcing * Lightweight materials * Energy absorbing systems (most common in skyscrapers)

There are also systems devised to protect buildings that were not built with earthquake safetyin mind.

There are special hooks being developed to attach things such as cupboards to walls so that they do not fall during an earthquake.

Answer 3

Building will be earthquake proof when you tie the walls, floor, roof, and foundation into a rigid box. In this way, it will be capable of holding up forces from gravity, weight and content of the structure. But this process may cost you a lot. So, what engineers do is just do some modification on the structure's parts.

Answer 4

To make a simple house resistant to Earthquakes it is important that all the corners of the house (and load supporting walls) are cross braced in all directions and that the foundations are good and firm.

A concrete raft foundation and steel skeleton would also make the house more earthquake resistant.

Answer 5

cross braces

Answer 6

Earthquake proof buildings

Answer 7

cement