by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: April 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

The purpose of an anti-seismic building is to build a foundation so strong that even a significant earthquake cannot break it. These buildings are built specifically to withstand the impact of seismic activity, soil failure or ground motion of any sort.

The theory is that through proper design and modifications a building can be made greatly resistant to earthquakes compared to normal buildings. There is numerous scientific evidence available to support this assertion. Even physics itself supports the claims of those advocating seismic retrofitting.

There are different levels of retrofit depending on the structure and amount of finance available. There is structure usability where the structure performs functionally but might be harmed aesthetically. Structural survivability is one step below that and means that even if it requires extensive repairs the structure at least survived...

On the higher end come categories like primary structure undamaged or even structure unaffected. Hospitals are a good example of the former while classical and historic buildings are a good example of the latter.

There are an infinite array of ways to retrofit a building. Isolation is a popular one, where the team excavates around the building and separate it from its foundation. The foundation is then reinforced with rubber and metal isolating pads.

Dampers are a very popular way of seismic retrofitting. They absorb the energy of motion and thus dampen the ripple effect of an earthquake and dissipate its energy.

There are a multitude of other techniques such as water absorption, shock absorbers, mass dampers and reinforcement. Reinforcement is by far the most common procedure done for smaller buildings.

While there is no such thing as an earthquake-proof structure, the performance of the buildings equipped with seismic retrofit are so much improved over regular buildings as to certainly at the very least warrant the term "earthquake resistant". And that's certainly a great start.

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