Title of the article- Earthquakes Don’t Kill People, Buildings Do.

Author Name- Nithin Sridhar

City- Mysore
State-Karnataka
Country- India
Phone Number-9538738031
Email- sridhar.nithin@gmail.com

The earthquake in small country of Haiti on Tuesday (12/01/10), was devastating causing
buildings to topple and in the process to have killed many. According to BBC (1) thousands are
feared dead. The Red Cross says up to three million people are affected. A report in The
Christian Science Monitor (2) says many government and United Nations buildings in Haiti’s
capital Port-au-Prince have collapsed. It quotes Bernice Robertson, a senior analyst in Haiti for
International Crisis Group as saying “major damage to several buildings, which crumbled along
the Delmas Road, a major street in the Metropolitan area”.

The major reasons for loss of life during earthquakes are the collapse of buildings. In 1991
Uttarkashi earthquake, around 48,000 houses were damaged killing many in the process. In 2001
Bhuj earthquake around 400,000 houses were destroyed completely and much larger number
were damaged. The toll of people died was at least 20,000 and number of injured was more than
200,000.

The earth’s outer shell, the crust is divided into seven major and few minor tectonic plates which
are continuously pushing against or pulling away from each other. This movement of plates
results in building up of stress. Earthquakes occur near such faults or fractures, where at some
point the stress overcomes the friction and rocks slip releasing seismic energy in the form of
earthquake. Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands sit on top of small crustal blocks
that are sandwiched between the North American and Caribbean plates. Indian Standard Code,
IS 1893 (Part 1) 2002, divides India into 4 seismic zones( Zone 2,3,4 and 5) with Zone 5 having
highest seismicity and Zone 2 having lowest seismicity. The state of Kashmir, Punjab, the
western and central Himalayas, the North-East Indian region and the Rann of Kutch fall in
Very High Damage Zone(Zone 5).

Most buildings are designed to resist its own weight and any live loads on it and to some extent
even wind loads. But they are not designed for earthquake loads. Earthquake loads (3) are inertia
forces resulting from ground movements and they impose certain demands on the structures
related to strength, ductility and energy. The magnitudes of these demands are highly variable
and are dependent on the seismicity of the region and the dynamic characteristics of the
structure.

The dead and Live Loads are vertical loads where as wind loads are horizontal loads. But the
earthquake loads have both horizontal and vertical components. It is this horizontal component of
earthquake loads which is very hazardous to a structure as vertical component is resisted by
weight of a structure. Hence every structure, especially the one in earthquake zone must be
designed to resist these lateral earthquake loads.

IS 1893 (Part1) 2002, assigns a zone factor of 0.36 for Zone 5 and a zone factor of 0.24 for Zone
4. The 0.36 and 0.24 refers to the peak horizontal ground acceleration which is equal to 36% and
34% of acceleration due to gravity respectively. This is very important with respect to design of
structures in Earthquake zones. Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) described 12 levels of
Intensity, the effect of earthquake on earth’s surface from instrumental and feeble to disastrous
and catastrophic.

In order to make buildings earthquake-resistant, the super-structure as well as foundations must

be made to resist the sideways loads. During an earthquake, the lower part of a building tends to
vibrate as it is in direct contact with the ground but the upper portions remain static. This conflict
of forces leads to collapse. As the magnitude of these forces is directly proportional to the weight
of the building the heavier the structure, the greater is the damage. Hence the roofs, walls, floors
are to be made as lighter as possible. Walls must be made to take sideways loads and they must
be tied in frame and properly reinforced. If diagonal bracing is used to resist the lateral loads,
then it must go equally in both directions. In case of moment resisting frames, joins should be
made stronger than beams. Roof can be made lighter with profiled steel cladding on light gauge
steel Zed purlins. Traditionally timber or plywood flooring is used to make light floors. A single
storey building, if competently designed and built, will be able to resist Earthquake loads.

The GOI-UNDP Guidelines (4) for Jammu and Kashmir Engineers suggests certain measures for
achieving seismic safety based on IS 4326 specifications. They suggest control on length, height
and the thickness of walls, Control on size and location of openings and control on material
strength and quality of construction. Additionally seismic bands are provided at plinth level, door-
window lintel level and ceiling levels of floors.

The dynamic response of a building against an earthquake vibration is an important structural

aspect which directly affects the structural resistance and consequently the hazard level. In order
to design an earthquake resistant steel building different method can be used. The structural
components capable to withstand lateral loads like shear walls, concentrically or eccentrically
braced frames, moment resisting frames, diaphragms, truss systems and other similar systems
should be used.

Compression structures like domes, vaults and arches should be avoided. The system needs to
be tensile and the material should be flexible (like timber, steel and bamboo). The structure
should be constructed in a way that it vibrates as one unit and sways together. Traditionally
Northeast people followed this principle. These older houses had timber roofs held together by
timber tie-bands, with horizontal timber beams spanning across the entire building, connecting
the entire structure. They suffered very little damages during earthquakes. The traditional
structures like Kuda, Thaat, Pherol, Chaukhat and Sumer of Garhwal Himalayas are the best
examples of this (5).

Significant progress has been made in designing earthquake resistant structures. Base-Isolated
systems, Passive energy dissipation systems, Active control systems are the three such new
earthquake resisting technologies.

Conventional earthquake-resistant structural systems are fixed-base systems that are ‘fixed’ to
the ground. But in base-isolated systems (6), the superstructure is isolated from the foundation by
certain devices, which reduce the ground motion transmitted to the structure. These devices help
decouple the superstructure from damaging earthquake components and absorb seismic energy
by adding significant damping. In comparison to fixed-base systems, this technique considerably
reduces damages to structural as well as non-structural component.

Energy Dissipating Devices/EDD (6) are like ‘add-ons’ to conventional fixed-base system, to
share the seismic demand along with primary structural members. It reduces the inelastic
demand on primary structural members, leading to significant reduction in structural and non-
structural damage. In contrast the active systems control the seismic response through
appropriate adjustments within the structure, as the seismic excitation changes. That is the active
control systems introduce elements of dynamism and adaptability into the structure, thereby
increasing the capability to resist earthquake loads.

These techniques have been successfully employed in many projects across the world. Japan
has been foremost in this direction. They are also being used in earthquake prone areas of
California, Indonesia and other such places. It is high time that, these techniques are employed in
earthquake zones of India to reduce the damages done by any future earthquakes in the sub-
continent.
References-

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8455629.stm
2. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0113/Haiti-earthquake-With-aid-groups-
already-there-relief-efforts-ramp-up-quickly
3. Durgesh.C.Rai, “Future Trends in Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures”,
Seismology, 2000.
4. By Prof Anand S. Arya, National Seismic Advisor, “Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant
Reconstruction and New Construction of Masonry Building in Jammu And Kashmir
State”, Home Ministry, 2005.
5. D. P. Agrawal and Manikant Shah, “Earthquake Resistant Structures of Himalayas”,
Infinity Foundations, 2001.
6. Proceedings, seminar and workshop on seismic isolation, passive energy dissipation and
active control; ATC-17, Applied Technology Council (ATC), Redwood City, CA, 1986.