Designing a quake resistant building starts on the ground

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Photo: APAn earthquake survivor searches for belongings in her destroyed house in the city of Kesennuma in northern Japan

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This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

Builders in developing countries are often not required to build strong buildings. So, when a disaster strikes, the damage is often widespread.

Yet Japan is one of the most developed countries in the world. Still, the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami waves destroyed more than fourteen thousand buildings.

Brady Cox is an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Arkansas. He is also an earthquake expert with an organization called Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance, or GEER. The group studies major disasters.

Professor Cox says Japan has one of the best building-code systems in the world.

BRADY COX: "The problem is this earthquake was just a mammoth earthquake, one of the, you know, top five earthquakes in recorded history. So anytime you have an earthquake that large, you are going to have damage."

The quake measured magnitude nine.

BRADY COX: "One thing I think a lot of people don't understand is that building codes are meant to prevent loss of life in earthquakes, that doesn’t mean that the buildings won't -- or bridges for that matter, or anything -- won't sustain significant damage."

Mr. Cox says Japan has invested a lot in seismic research and design since a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Niigata in nineteen sixty-four. That same year a 9.2 quake shook the American state of Alaska.

BRADY COX: "Those two earthquakes really opened up a lot of new research on something called soil liquefaction, in particular. And, you know, the Japanese, they have more earthquakes greater than magnitude six or seven than probably any other country in the world. I mean, they get hit a lot."

Soil liquefaction is the process by which the strength or stiffness of soil is weakened by an event like the shaking of an earthquake. The soil begins to move like liquid.

Professor Cox says the first step to designing an earthquake-resistant building is to study the soil.

BRADY COX: "Then the structural engineers take that information and they use it to detail the building in terms of, is this going to be a steel structure? Is it going to be reinforced concrete? And then you get into all kinds of things in terms of the designs of the columns and the beams and the framing of the building and the connections. And how much steel do you put in?"

A team from Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance is planning a trip to Japan to examine the destruction. Mr. Cox and other members of GEER went to Haiti after the powerful earthquake last year, and continue to work with Haitian officials.

BRADY COX: "A lot of the work that we’ve been doing has been focusing on the rebuilding effort and how to especially make sure that the rebuilding of schools and hospitals, and kind of critical facilities that you would need to respond to an emergency -- police and fire stations, government buildings -- that those things get rebuilt appropriately."

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Christopher Cruise.

Listen? Email? Print? Comments?Comments (32)28-03-2011Abdallah(Algeria)

Japanese people are used to resist against earthquakes which shook their country through history.Designing a quake-resistant building becomes a necessity, and this report shows to us that studying the soil is a very important step.

28-03-2011Jorge Vargas

Were those fourteen thousand buildings destroyed by the 9..earthquake or by the tsunami event mainly? I'd like to clarify.

29-03-2011sun(china)

China should get prepared, every time earthquake hit the country, we make efforts after it. People suffer from the lost of everything. I don't hope to see and.

29-03-2011dhurba humagain(nepal)

I think the first step designing a quake resistant bldg. becoms a necessity,& studying the soil is must.

29-03-2011Ashin Zawtika(Myanmar)

This new is good.

29-03-2011Spike(China)

Buildings must be flexible and difficult to be destroyed in a disaster

29-03-2011Aki(Japan)

In case of the quake, most of the buildings were destroyed by tunami. Prevention of the building damage from tunami wave might be impossible. Run away to higher part was the things we should do at tunami alarm.

29-03-2011Joruji(Japan)

I hope government of earthquake prone countries, especially developing countries where the buildings are not strong, will review and improve their building standards in order to increase the safety of buildings against earthquakes.

29-03-2011hienvuquangfipi(vietnam)

The report is very useful. Earthquakes is not only in JaPan but many areas around the world. Therefore, we should have way in building to prevent damage from earthquakes like japaness has suffered. Every one knows the damage of earthquakes in Japan, we can buid a city from 5 to 10 years but only 10 minutes be destroyed by tsunami and earthquakes.In my country, it is rare happens earthquakes,

29-03-2011George Volkov(Russia)

I sympathize with Japanese people.But my opinion is that they must learn from last event that it is so dangerouse to build the nuclear stations at the seaside on plato. It might be better in mountains. Thus at least one threat of tsunami disaster will resolved. George.

29-03-2011Maki-2(Japan)

It seems the situation is serious as a difference of the road height happens on many places. I'm concerned where is the best to live. There is no place to live for good.

29-03-2011

I'd like you to make difference between earthquake itself, tsunami and soil liquefaction. About this quake, only few houses were destroyed by earthquake itself. But a lot of houses and buildings were destroyed by tsunami. Big waves washed away so many towns. Soil liquefaction did not destroyed a lot of houses, but destroyed the pipes of running water and town gas.

29-03-2011dastin

japan is the land of earthquace

30-03-2011Sambatvoha CHEN(Cambodia)

It is the worse situation! and when that happen everyone is suffered and lost almost everything. It is great idea to build the blog to prevent it. By the way, we are lucky here, Cambodia; we rarely suffer from any natural disasters.

30-03-2011mustafa(turkey)

it is very difficult to build strong buildings to prevent loss of life. we stay on the ground and natural disasters come from there. either we cut our tie or develop early warning systems. there is no another way.

30-03-2011Sylvia(Taiwan)

I agree that Japan should cope with the nuclear proplem. It make our country and China feel so neverous.

30-03-2011Sylvia(Taiwan)

I agree that Japan should cope with the nuclear proplem. It make our country and China feel so neverous.

30-03-2011brenda mary(vietnam)

I am very sad because country for you Desinging a Quake - resistant buiding at the SOIL .I sad andI very sorry you

31-03-2011roger(China)

it's hard

31-03-2011Louis(China)

it is impossible to keep a building ntact during a mammoth earthquake like the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan.however,a building can be designed to prevent prevent loss of life in damaging earthquakes

01-04-2011dayi(turkey)

There is an another possibility.

01-04-2011Patriots(Vietnam)

It is one of the most important causes Japan has been developing & becoming a powerful country up to now is brave, unyielding, good mental powers. So I am thinking of Japanese will overcome every difficulty, barrier and danger. I believe that you can repair the damages of earthquake, tsunami and nulear breakdown successfully. We are always your side!

01-04-2011Susumu(Japan)

Now I stay in Singapore. There are quite tall and big housing. I'm afraid if the big earthquake occur here. Luckly there is no earthquake because of the very tough and stiff ground.

02-04-2011M .Niazi(Afghanistan)

my standpoint if these building rebuilding from flexible and style materials face to resistance earthquake that help avoid human dead and wounded .

02-04-2011M.ALEEM(Pakistan)

may ALLAH bless Japenes with his mercy...

02-04-2011Manuel(Dominican Republic)

Its difficult, if not impossible, to design quake-resistant buildings which stay still in a magnitud 9.0 earthquake. Nevertheless, it could be designed to prevent mayor damages such as loss of lives and injured.

03-04-2011jusron Effendi(Indonesia)

I experienced when the earthquake happened in Yogyakarta. I had watched television with my daughter, suddenly the earthquake attacked strongly. I believed that everyone will be afraid if the earthquake come without sending a message. I think, wherever we stay we must be ready to die or safe.

04-04-2011ramiro(Ecuador)

Good Report. In Japan we have two extreme paralels events: Earthquake and Tsunami. The study of the soils is very importan thing but the code and control in resistant building also.

04-04-2011

A great problem Japan now is Nuclear Energy, not only Japan but the world. radiation to go affect the life in the sea? spreading to another ocean?

05-04-2011TT(Japan)

Soil liquefaction is one of the hot topics in a recent great earthquake. Tohoku district which is north-east of Japan was severely destructed by a huge earthquake and Tsunami. But near Tokyo, some regions are damaged by Soil liquefaction. For example, in Urayasu city in Chiba prefecture where Tokyo Disney Land is located and which was once see and made artificially land, infrastructures were largely broken by that phenomenon.

05-04-2011Mali(Thailand)

I think if we have a choice. We shouldn't stay in high buildings and near the sea.Because natural disaster can be occur all the time

11-04-2011cuneyt(turkey)

soil liquefaction is one of the most negligent issue in the structural system. we merely deal with solidity of structure but basing systems are as crucial as durability of buildings. At times after the quake some buildings do not dent, however it seperate from the earth and annihilate...(civil engineerig department)

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