What have we learned from the recent quakes (especially in Japan) and the damage that occurred in earthquake designed bridges and buildings?
The most important lesson is that mitigation, primarily in appropriate building practices, pays off. If we compare the loss of life and damage in recent California earthquakes to those of comparable sized earthquakes in other countries, the lesson is obvious. The 1994 Northridge, CA and 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquakes were of comparable magnitude and both occurred in urban areas. Although Japan has taken many measures to mitigate earthquake damage and some of the damage differences may be due to factors other than building design, many older buildings collapsed as a result of the Kobe earthquake and there were thousands of fatalities. The building stock in Los Angeles is much younger, and much of it has been built with earthquakes in mind. Few people died as a result of the Northridge earthquake. Unlike California most of the building stock in the central US has been built without earthquakes in mind.
Related Questions
- What have we learned from the recent quakes (especially in Japan) and the damage that occurred in earthquake designed bridges and buildings?
- What has been learned from recent earthquakes and the damage that occurred in earthquake designed bridges and buildings?
- When was the time of the last recent earthquake in japan?
