How can a building remain stand in a long period of time despite of occurrence of an

earthquake?. Now a days, Occurrence of earthquake happens not once in a while but most of
the time it happens consecutively. If a building's foundation is strong and the building itself is
built with good resistance in earthquake the lost of lives will lessen or even avoided and of
course the cost of expenses may minimize. The building may fail in an earthquake regardless of
the advanced engineering techniques employed. Assuming, however, that the soil beneath a
structure is firm and solid, engineers can greatly improve how the building-foundation system
will respond to seismic waves. For example, earthquakes often knock buildings from their
foundations. One solution involves tying the foundation to the building so the whole structure
moves as a unit.

Modern engineering and sciences and technology help the building design greatly to sustain it's
capability to use in a long period of time. There are 5 factors to consider while designing and
building an earthquake resistant house. The first is the soil characteristic and terrain, First to
know and consider upon building a house, is where would you stand the structure. It is also
important to know what kind of soil consist your lot. Good Selection of sites with the best soil is
important for the foundation of your house and to more stable and safe structures. Managing
for long-term success requires understanding the soil properties and managing the movement
of water at the building site.

Strength and stability of soil are related to its physical properties. Some soils can support a
skyscraper, while other soils are not able to support the weight of a human. If the soil under a
building is not stable, the foundation of the building during an earthquake could crack, sink, or
worse–the building could fall. Good soil properties include good water precipitation, so that
runoff and erosion do not damage structures. Soil with good structure is more stable. Clay
textures are often more stable than sand textures because they have better structure..

The second one is, the solid foundation, after conducting inspections what type of soil your
house will be built, the type and size of foundation will be required to decide with respect to its
soil bearing capacity and the topography.Foundation design and performance depend on two
factors, the nature of the ground on whthe key factors upon designing a good structural
foundation for a stable house or structure.

The third one is, the safety factors,there are building standards and regulations that must be
observed depending on the region where the property will be built. There are some
construction compliance that must be met, and this is decided depending on the seismic
incidence of the area.
The fourth one is, the balanced load distribution,Loads are a primary consideration in any
building design because they define the nature and magnitude of hazards or external forces
that a building must resist to provide safety and serviceability throughout the structure’s useful
life. Understanding the importance of balancing load forces can help prevent further failures on
the house supports and the structure itself. The design for loads follows guidelines and
specifications intended for the type of structure, it’ll be wise to get a structural engineer’s
help.The last one is,the structural design, a structural analysis is a procedure utilized to check
the adequacy, structural integrity and soundness of structures and their components. It is
important to evaluate a structure use and configuration conformance to current building codes.
Additionally, there are also practical method that is being applied in the building structure like
applying shear wall, base isolation (lead rubber bearings and spherical sliding isolation), bracing,
seismic damper, bands, roller, and using light weight materials.

Therefore, all buildings and structures or other planned design must follow codes and
specifications in the first place to ensure structural safety, strength and stability under
normal/actual loads as well as reducing the possibility of disproportionate collapse under
unanticipated or accidental loads. And as much as possible, if possible engineers should apply
these kinds of practical ways to strengthen the biulding.

Reference;

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