Earthquake Engineering: Applications, Impacts, and Benefits

RESEARCH PREPARATION IN POST GRADUATE STUDIES
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INTRODUCTION
The shaking of the Earth surface that leads to the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s
lithosphere. The energy released results in the creation of seismic waves. These seismic
waves have very far reaching consequences on the earth surface depending on their intensity.
This therefore means that the seismicity of areas will always vary. The seabed can be
sufficiently displaced and tsunami caused if the epicentre of the earthquake is offshore.
Landslides and even volcanic are consequences of this phenomenon too.
These consequences of the earthquake have direct impact on the flora and fauna. A lot of
knowledge is needed to provide remedy to these problems and possibly avert the
consequences. The level of preparedness must apply scientific knowledge for them to be
effective. Engineering branch that designs and analyses structures while putting into
consideration the impacts of the earthquake has sprung up. The main of this research is to
review on the existing applications of the earthquake engineering and how it has impacted
lives, areas of concerns and the benefits as well.
The main aims of this engineering branch are to predict the impact of the strong earthquakes
on the bridges, buildings and on the urban lives in general. It also checks on the process of
design and construction of the building to conduct an exposure test on the expectations. This
means that branch of engineering is unable to work alone but instead should depend on the
other numerous branches in order to establish proper results. It has become an
interdisciplinary field that makes use of knowledge acquired from other fields including
mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics etc.
METHODOLOGY
The research was conducted using scientific ways. The needed materials for study were
assembled such as laptops for the data recording, cameras for taking photographs taking

safety kits among others. The targeted group became those that live in the areas that are
usually affected by the earthquakes. The data was collected through use of different ways that
included;
1. Questionnaire: The questions asked were both closed and open ended and the samples
included.
 What are the experiences of earthquakes?
 What are the levels of damage of earthquakes?
 What is the level of preparedness for the earthquakes?
 What are the examples of available buildings and structures that are used to protect
and combat the impacts of the earthquake?
 What is the level of efficiency of these structures they have limitations and
weaknesses?
2. Use of the direct Observations
The study focused on exploring the available application on the practice of earthquake
engineering as well as the available areas that were worst affected by the earthquakes. This
included travelling to the areas that are prone to the earthquake. The forum of the damage
inspections and assessment were established.
3. Exploration of the available books and peer reviewed journals exhaustive on earthquake
proof engineering-The available materials were exhaustively read to extract the highly
elaborating on the topic under research.
4. Paying visits to those researches on the applications of buildings to manage earthquake

5. Interviews
During the research, the interviews predominated the entire work. Sorting of the earthquake
engineering experts was done and their experiences noted for detailed analysis.
The research was faced with numerous limitations. The research was carried out mainly in
the English language and yet there was need to gather some data in other languages as the
locals had challenges expressing themselves in the English language. Language barrier was
thus became one of the challenges (Gioncu, 2010, p.320).
 The time that was allocated for the study was too short.
 Having an access to some areas were a major challenge.
 There was lack of data in some places that we focussed on and this was a big blow to
the research team.
RESULTS
The earthquake resistant structures are basically meant to reduce and tolerate the effects of
the phenomenon in the earthquake hit zones. Human deaths have been minimised through
avoiding the collapse of structures (Hori, 2011, p.177). The earthquake engineering has
utilised the experimental findings and computer simulations to the necessities to combats the
impacts.
The existing structures have been strengthened and ductile to withstand the seismic waves.
The technologies minimise on the deformations caused. Structures of such properties may not
necessarily need to be expensive. They have been built such that they can survive the
earthquake and simultaneously maintain the extent of damage. The similar buildings that
adopted methods were the Cathedral of our Lady of the alongside the Acropolis Museum
(Elnashai, 2015, p.154).