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Identifying Structural Risks for Earthquake Preparedness

In 2010, over 200,000 individuals died in earthquakes around the world. Collapsed buildings caused the vast majority of these casualties. Three things should be prioritized right after an earthquake to reduce risk:

  1. Keeping people in and around the building safe.
  2. Preventing gas lines from leaking or exploding.
  3. Minimizing (or at least anticipating) any risk of collapse.

Recognizing structural weaknesses within your building is key to improving earthquake safety for yourself and anyone else who occupies the building. Here are a few high-risk issues that may be present in your building. Carefully considering how to plan ahead can help you minimize the danger they may pose.

Poorly Anchored Walls

Earthquakes (of course) shake the ground. In doing so, they may cause various parts of a building to move in different directions, as different elements respond to the movement in different ways, depending on their composition, position, and anchoring. If the walls in the building are not secured or anchored, the walls can pull away from the roof structure, causing the building to become unstable.

The Solution: Hire a retrofitting company to strengthen the walls with an anchor system. This can be done relatively inexpensively.

Poorly Reinforced Concrete Columns

Concrete is brittle and easily cracked. The seismic stress caused by an earthquake can easily cause even solid concrete columns to crumble.

The Solution: A retrofitting company can add reinforced steel or FRP to concrete columns to make them more resistant to earthquake forces.

Steel Frame Buildings

If your building was built before 1995 and has been damaged by earthquakes, it might have cracks in its steel connections. These are often hard to see because the steel is covered by interior walls, facades, and/or fireproofing.

The Solution: Hire an experienced structural repair engineer to investigate the building. FEMA recommends repair and retrofit techniques for steel frame buildings (FEMA 350 to 353).

Extra Precautions for Gas Lines

Gas lines in a building can pose a major risk during an earthquake. Blown gas lines usually cause fires after an earthquake, and municipalities often shut off main gas valves after an earthquake to prevent damage. However, it’s also the responsibility of any landowner to turn off their gas valve to prevent leaks. This should be a part of your earthquake safety plan, along with coordinated evacuation and meet-up points.

An earthquake safety valve is a smart measure to install ahead of time to make it easy to reduce the risk of gas leaks and fires on your property. These devices automatically sense an earthquake and shut off the gas in response without needing any action on your part.

Other Vulnerable Building Areas

If you have chimneys, stairs, or even marquees, they should also be prepared for an earthquake. All of these architectural elements should be properly braced to withstand movement.

Enhance Your Building’s Earthquake Safety with Saunders Seismic

If you’re concerned about your building’s seismic resilience or need expert retrofitting services, Saunders Seismic is here to help.

Contact us for a comprehensive assessment and learn about solutions to improve your building’s earthquake safety.

 

Posted Under: Structural Repairs & Engineering