Earthquake

Earlier this year an article in The New York Times speculated about the “high” probability of steel high-rise buildings in San Francisco built before the 1994 Northridge earthquake collapsing in a future quake.

Earlier this year The New York Times published three articles regarding the seismic hazard and safety concerns for tall buildings, particularly those in San Francisco, which stimulated discussion both in the public domain and in the engineering community.

In communities and countries around the world government officials and other decision-makers with limited resources are called upon to make investments in the safety and welfare of their constituents.

Six tons is twice as heavy as three tons, and 60 mph is twice as fast as 30 mph—so why do M6.0 earthquakes release so much more than twice the destructive energy of M3.0 temblors?

During a talk at AIR, Dr. Lucy Jones emphasized the importance of moving toward a truly green and sustainable society and advocated for standards that ensure that buildings are not "disposable" in the case of a significant disaster.

You can't have missed the dramatic images coming out of Hawaii of glowing lava and burning homes, thanks to the current activity of Kilauea.

Compared to standard-value homes, high-value homes are larger and more complex structures generally constructed better and with more expensive materials. However, they can be more susceptible to damage during an earthquake than their standard-value counterparts.

We expect the earth beneath our feet to be solid ground, but there are circumstances in which it can behave more like a thick soup.

Who can forget the dramatic images of the Yun Men Tsui Ti building in Hualian, Taiwan, leaning at an angle of 40° after the M6.4 earthquake that struck north of Hualian on February 6?

Earthquakes strike around the clock and around the globe, hitting some communities far harder than others.