How can studying the effects of earthquakes help engineers improve the safety of buildings?

Answer 1

The biggest problem that structural engineers face when designing something to be "earthquake-proof" is the up and down motion created by the S waves. Seismic S waves look and behave very much like a large sheet of poster board when you wave the top of it with your hands, a massive amount of up and down motion is creating, literally lifting the building straight into the air and then dropping it back to earth. Vertical elasticity can be achieved in several ways. First of all, engineers will often make sure that buildings in earthquake zones are built with more metal than concrete, even using wood frames whenever possible. Metal and wood are flexible and ductile, which is the quality one favors in an earthquake. Anything rigid, no matter how strong, will likely shatter if shaken by the immense forces of an earthquake. Another important consideration is the terrain. The ground around a building is often softened up by the vibrations caused by both S and P waves, so engineers need to make sure the building has a solid base to stand on. It is not uncommon for some engineers to run huge beams all the way down to the bedrock, so that the structure has some backup stilts to stand on if the dirt and sand it is built atop begins to liquefy. The important thing to remember is that buildings can be fixed or replaced, but human lives cannot. Engineers aren't' worried so much about making a building usable after a quake, what matters is making sure that nothing falls on anyone.

Answer 2

Earthquake-resistant buildings are built to prevent total collapse and save lives. Engineers keep the buildings symmetrical so that forces are distributed equally throughout the structure. Excess ornamental elements are limited, as they can come loose and tumble down. Building are double-reinforced both vertically and horizontally. Roof trusses shore up the top of the building. The foundation floats on a bed of bearings, springs or padded cylinders.

Answer 3

by building base-isolated buildings.these buildings have a strong foundation and there are strong pillars underground supporting the building.

Answer 4

well the builders use a foundation rooted deep in the ground to keep them standing depend on the magnitude of the earth quake it will usually hold up

Any building has a certain frequency it will resonate at if the earthquake keys into the frequency a building can literally shake itself apart. To offset this they reinforce structures using a myriad of construction techniques including external framing, reinforcing beams, and sometimes a reservoir at the top to offset some of the resonance. no building can truly be earthquake proof as any number of associated disasters can cause catastrophic failure but retrofitting has been improving greatly and shaking resilience has greatly increased.

Answer 5

you cant make a building "earthquake proof". you can use design / materials to make it more resistant to large earthquakes.

Answer 6

u use hard materials

Answer 7

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