Earthquake Proof Engineering: Methods, Results and Conclusion

This article discusses earthquake proof engineering, its methods, results, and conclusion. It covers the current applications of earthquake engineering and the benefits it has brought to the areas that are prone to earthquakes. The research was conducted using modern scientific methods, including direct observations, reading of existing books and journals, visiting laboratories, intensive interviews, and questionnaires. The study found that earthquake engineering has helped in the prevention of damages to infrastructure and saving lives. The article also discusses the different structures and technologies used in earthquake engineering, such as reinforced concrete, timber framing, and steel structures. The conclusion highlights the importance of continuous consultations among colleagues and the use of hybrid solutions for better results.

Earthquake Proof Engineering
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1. Introduction
During the shaking of the earth, a lot of energy is released to the earth’s crust. In the crust,
this energy leads to the production of the seismic waves. The seismic waves whose intensities
vary have different effects on their areas of operation. The level of damage will therefore be
different. When the epicentre happens to be on the offshore, the whole seabed can be
displaced and this usually results into the creation of the tsunami. In the places where the
crust is too weak, the volcanic eruptions can take place while accompanied by landslide. The
plant and animals are affected in the equal measure. In order to provide real solution to these
problems, a lot of knowledge is needed and have the effects and impacts reduced. To ensure
that the preparations are of the required standard, the scientific technologies must be applied.
The engineering field that serves to design and build structures while having the issues of
earthquake in mind has sprung up (Hori, 2011, p.266). The major objective of this project is
to have a look at the current applications of the earthquake engineering and the benefits it has
brought to the areas that are prone to the earthquake.
The core objective of this engineering branch is to foresee the effects of the earthquakes on
the infrastructure such as roads, bridges and buildings in the urban centres. The field also
monitors the design and the construction of the structures to perform an exposure test to the
expectations. That would mean that this engineering branch cannot work in isolation but must
rely on other branches to have proper results. It has become an interdisciplinary field that
utilises knowledge from other fields such as mechanical engineering, chemical engineering,
civil engineering and earth science.

2. Methods
The research was conducted using the modern scientific methods. The relevant materials for
the research were collected including note books for the recoding data, cameras for the
photograph taking, safety kits, and pair of compass for the telling directions. The methods
that were used in the collection of the data were very scientific and somehow reliable. They
included the following.
1. Use of the direct Observations which included visiting the affected areas: The study
focussed on viewing of the existing applications of the earthquake engineering
practice. The existing destroyed areas by the earthquake and the area mostly affected.
This included travelling to the areas that are prone to the earthquake. The forum of the
damage inspections and assessment were established (Srbulov, 2008, p.278).
2. Reading of the existing books and journals on the earthquake proof engineering: The
existing materials were thoroughly read to establish the much-needed information on
the topic that was under study. This was necessary to make the study relevant and to
work from the informed point of view.
3. Visiting the laboratories that researches on the engineering applications to that are
aimed at managing the effects of the earthquakes
4. Intensive Interviews on the relevant authorities including the affected individuals
5. Questionnaires: The questions asked were of different types and they included.
 What are the experiences of earthquakes to the individuals?
 What are the extents of destruction of earthquakes in the areas affected?
 What is the level of preparedness for the earthquakes disasters by the
authorities and other agencies?

 What are the examples of existing structures that are meant to protect and
subvert the consequences of the earthquake and how effective are these
structures?
 How effective are these structures and do they have limitations and
weaknesses? Which ones?
In process of the research, the interviews predominated the most of the work. The audience of
the experts on the earthquake engineering was sort and their experiences recorded for further
analysis and evaluation of the findings (Paz, 2012, p.266).
The study experienced a lot of challenges. The research was conducted purely in English and
some of the information needed was to be collected in other languages since the locals could
not understand the English language. Language barrier therefore was one of the limitations
and difficulties faced. Heavy rains and very hot weather
The period that was allocated for the study was too short to cover everything at once
Having an access to some areas were a major challenge due to poor roads
There was lack of information in some places that were visited and this was a big blow to the
study.
3. Results
The infrastructure that is always resistant is meant to lower and withstand the impacts of the
earthquake in the areas affected. The loss of lives has been reduced through preventing the
collapse of the new and old buildings. The earthquake engineering has utilised the research
results and computer technology used and to offer the requirements to combats and minimise
the impacts of the phenomenon (Srbulov, 2008, p.232).

The current structures have been made strong and ductile to survive the shaking and
vibrations that shorten the durability. The technologies minimise on the damages caused.
Such structures do not have to be costly. They have been erected in such a way as to
withstand the earthquake while at the same time sustaining the permitted level of damage.
The examples of the structures that employed the technique were the Cathedral of our Lady
of the Angles together with the Acropolis Museum.
Retrofitting for the seismic has been done on the current structures in the areas that are prone
to the earthquakes. This process involves the change of the structure to make it more resistant
to the waves (Takewaki, 2013, p.322). The research also found out that there are no
earthquake proof-structures but the performance of the structure can be greatly improved
during the design or subsequent changes.
The modes of failure were observed and a close examination discovered two effects, soft
story effect and soil water holding capacity. In the soft story effect structures collapsed due to
the absence of enough stiffness and stability on the ground.
Fig 1: Soft story collapse
In the soil liquefaction, the structures fall as a result the hydrostatic pore of water that are
excess hence non-uniform settlement of the structure after the construction and this leads to

change of alignment of these structures during the tremor. It was the possible cause of
collapse of a building in Niligata, Japan in the year1964.
Figure 2: Collapsed Building
This process was as a result of the non-uniform soil settlement. The soil consolidation occurs
when stress occurs is applied to the soil hence making it to get compacted together. If there
was a lot of water, it will be squeezed out in a particular side and in the process the building
collapse (Plevris, 2012, p.255). This problem is normally solved by isolating the base of the
building and providing a proper foundation to the structure itself.
Fig 3: Analytical graph

Fig 4: The analytical graph for the earthquake
Fig 5: Comparison of the wave strength.
The engineering of earthquake has tried to solve these problems by making improved seismic
performance of the above construction (Paz, 2012, p.259). The considered factors include the
following;
Nature of the construction, a very compact and box-type layout and a seismic reinforcement

The structures that are made of sand and limestone have been reinforced through application
of modern technology of retrofitting to improve on the survivability of the initially
unreinforced structures. The best example of this is the Salt Lake City. This particular
structure is known to have survived the effects of the earthquakes for a long time. Thanks to
the earthquake engineers for this miraculous work.
Figure 6: Steel reinforced structure
The knowledge of the earthquake engineering has led to the construction of the reinforced
structures that are all aimed at reducing the far-reaching consequences of the earth tremor
whenever they occur. Reinforced concrete has steel of fibres incorporated to strengthen them
e.g. for the construction of the bridges. This technology has made it much possible to have
the construction of very tall buildings even in the seismic zones. The buildings are normally
given a proper isolation from the earthquake effects while ensuring that they provide a good
degree of flexibility to accommodate the forces.
The field of engineering employs the use of timber framing in which the buildings are
provided with their complete skeletal framing made of timber. Light frame structures also
gain seismic opposition from the rigid plywood. Their walls and drag struts helps to distribute

the much load along the sheet (Hori, 2011, p.121). He the buildings are made from the
timber, it becomes very much flexible to the external forces and when under the influence of
these forces, it can easily adjust to accommodate the effects. The researchers have indicated
that the level of destruction is much reduced in these structures during the occurrence of the
earthquakes. However, proper and regular maintenance is usually required since timber has
specific life duration beyond which the functional qualities are compromised.
Fig 6: A wooden structure made in seismic zones.
Fig 7: Pre-stressed concrete cable stayed bridge.
The installation of the dampers in the skyscrapers and usually swing like a pendulum. These
oscillating pendulums of several metric tonnes of mass are normally use to decrease the
resonant amplification of the horizontal displacements in the building that is caused by
earthquake (Takewaki, 2013, p.312). The hysteretic dampers are of different types with the
most common types being the semi solid dampers and the pure dampers.

The use of the steel structures has been the latest technology of managing earthquake and
with the significant applications of the earthquake engineering in the seismic zones. Although
the steel is considered earthquake resistant, sometimes failure does occur to the structures that
are made from this particular precious metal. This included the brittle behaviour of the
welded steel moment-resisting frames in the buildings and other constructions that utilises the
steel use (Gioncu, 2010, p.217). This has led to the emergence of pre -qualifying cyclic test
that seeks to check on the suitability the steel in terms of ductility as one of the properties
required.
In some cases, the building or the structure may be isolated from the effect of the seismic
waves using engineering techniques. The base isolation normally prevents the kinetic energy
from being transmitted or transformed into elastic energy in the building. It involves the
rubber bearing technique, springs that uses damper base isolator among others.
4. Conclusion
This field of engineering has helped in the prevention of damages to the infrastructure and
generally in saving very many lives of those in the areas that are prone to earthquake. The
laboratory evaluations of predicting the seismic performance is mostly done through practical
simulations. This method relies on the similarities of a repeated pattern obtained from an
issue that is under investigation and this may sometimes may not reflect on the reality. The
research for the topic given meant both fieldwork and analytical investigation. The
experimental results were reflections of the permitted concepts in the light of revised work.
The communication platforms have been given to the researchers to share their laboratory
and experimental results on the topics they have been doing study on. The information should
be securely stored, organised and if shared then on the standardisation framework that
adheres to the conventional values and units. Continuous consultations among the colleagues

have led to the development of the better solutions to the challenge at hand. The hybrid
solution is better used since the samples targeting one method may not be accurate and even
if so, it may not be reliable. In the recent past, numerical value analysis and evaluation is used
to evaluate the effects of this earthquake and also to determine the extent of the destruction
that are normally caused. It is from here that the future prediction can be done and possible
prevention put in place and even communicated to the affected people or the society at large.

References
Gioncu, V., 2010. Earthquake Engineering for Structural Design. Manchester: CRC Press.
Hori, M., 2011. Introduction to Computational Earthquake Engineering. Oxford: World
Scientific.
Paz, M., 2012. nternational Handbook of Earthquake Engineering: Codes, Programs, and
Example. Liverpool: Springer Science & Business Media.
Plevris, V., 2012. Structural Seismic Design Optimization and Earthquake Engineering:
Formulations and Applications: Formulations and Application. Newyork: IGI Global.
Srbulov, M., 2008. Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering: Simplified Analyses with Case
Studies and Examples. London: Springer Science & Business Media.
Takewaki, I., 2013. Critical Excitation Methods in Earthquake Engineering. Chicago:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Takewaki, I., 2013. Critical Excitation Methods in Earthquake Engineering. Manchester:
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013.