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Earthquake Engineering

Building Against the Shaking Earth. Slides: Earthquake Engineering · The Scale of the Problem · Seismology Fundamentals · Measuring Earthquakes · History of Earthquake Engineering · History (continued) · Structural Dynamics Fundamentals · Seismic Design Philosophy · Lateral Force-Resisting Systems.

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This Shipslides page presents Earthquake Engineering as an interactive HTML presentation deck in the Engineering catalog with 32 slides. The share page keeps the uploaded deck sandboxed while exposing readable context, topics, and a slide outline for viewers and search engines.

Building Against the Shaking Earth Key sections include: Earthquake Engineering; The Scale of the Problem; Seismology Fundamentals; Measuring Earthquakes; History of Earthquake Engineering; History (continued); Structural Dynamics Fundamentals; Seismic Design Philosophy; Lateral Force-Resisting Systems; Base Isolation.

Key sections

  • 01Earthquake Engineering
  • 02The Scale of the Problem
  • 03Seismology Fundamentals
  • 04Measuring Earthquakes
  • 05History of Earthquake Engineering
  • 06History (continued)
  • 07Structural Dynamics Fundamentals
  • 08Seismic Design Philosophy
  • 09Lateral Force-Resisting Systems
  • 10Base Isolation
  • 11Energy Dissipation Devices (Dampers)
  • 12Soil-Structure Interaction
  • 13Seismic Retrofitting
  • 14Earthquake-Resistant Materials
  • 15Tall Buildings in Earthquake Zones
  • 16Bridge Seismic Engineering
  • 17Earthquake Early Warning Systems
  • 18Tsunami Engineering
  • 19Seismic Codes Around the World
  • 20Shake Tables and Testing
  • 21Computational Earthquake Engineering
  • 22Japan: The Gold Standard
  • 23Resilience-Based Design
  • 24Lessons from Recent Earthquakes

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Slide outline
  1. 01Earthquake Engineering
  2. 02The Scale of the Problem
  3. 03Seismology Fundamentals
  4. 04Measuring Earthquakes
  5. 05History of Earthquake Engineering
  6. 06History (continued)
  7. 07Structural Dynamics Fundamentals
  8. 08Seismic Design Philosophy
  9. 09Lateral Force-Resisting Systems
  10. 10Base Isolation
  11. 11Energy Dissipation Devices (Dampers)
  12. 12Soil-Structure Interaction
  13. 13Seismic Retrofitting
  14. 14Earthquake-Resistant Materials
  15. 15Tall Buildings in Earthquake Zones
  16. 16Bridge Seismic Engineering
  17. 17Earthquake Early Warning Systems
  18. 18Tsunami Engineering
  19. 19Seismic Codes Around the World
  20. 20Shake Tables and Testing
  21. 21Computational Earthquake Engineering
  22. 22Japan: The Gold Standard
  23. 23Resilience-Based Design
  24. 24Lessons from Recent Earthquakes
  25. 25Pioneers of Earthquake Engineering
  26. 26The Cascadia Subduction Zone
  27. 27Traditional Earthquake-Resistant Structures
  28. 28Earthquake Insurance and Economics
  29. 29Emerging Technologies
  30. 30Earthquake Prediction: The Unsolved Problem
  31. 31The Future of Earthquake Engineering
  32. 32Building for the Unpredictable
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Slide 01

Earthquake Engineering

  • Building Against the Shaking Earth
  • How engineers design structures to withstand nature's most violent force -- from ancient timber-frame pagodas to modern base-isolated skyscrapers.
  • A comprehensive exploration in 32 slides
  • 1 / 32
Slide 02

The Scale of the Problem

  • Earthquakes are the deadliest natural hazard in terms of single-event fatalities. Unlike hurricanes, they strike without warning and can level entire cities in seconds.
  • "Earthquakes don't kill people. Buildings do."
  • -- Common saying in seismic engineering, reflecting that 75% of earthquake deaths result from building collapse
  • ~500KDetectable earthquakes per year
  • ~100Cause damage annually
  • $3T+Estimated losses 1900-2024
  • Deadliest Earthquakes (Modern Era)
  • 2010 Haiti M7.0: 316,000 dead -- poor construction
  • 2004 Indian Ocean M9.1: 227,898 dead -- tsunami
  • 1976 Tangshan M7.5: 242,000-655,000 dead
  • 2008 Sichuan M7.9: 87,587 dead
  • 2005 Kashmir M7.6: 87,351 dead
  • The Contrast
  • Chile M8.8 (2010): 525 dead. Japan M9.0 (2011): 19,759 dead (mostly tsunami). Both had modern seismic codes. Haiti M7.0 (2010): 316,000 dead -- no seismic code, unreinforced masonry. The difference is engineering.
  • 2 / 32
Slide 03

Seismology Fundamentals

  • What Causes Earthquakes
  • The Earth's lithosphere is divided into ~15 tectonic plates floating on the asthenosphere. Earthquakes occur when stress accumulated along plate boundaries (or interior faults) is suddenly released.
  • Convergent boundaries: Subduction zones (Pacific Ring of Fire) produce the largest earthquakes -- M9+
  • Transform boundaries: San Andreas Fault, North Anatolian Fault -- strike-slip motion up to M8
  • Divergent boundaries: Mid-ocean ridges -- generally moderate earthquakes
  • Intraplate: New Madrid (1811-12), rare but devastating due to unexpected location
  • Seismic Waves
  • Body Waves
  • P-waves (Primary): Compressional, travel at 5-8 km/s through rock. Arrive first. Can pass through liquids.
  • S-waves (Secondary): Shear waves, 3-5 km/s. Cannot pass through Earth's liquid outer core. Cause most structural damage due to horizontal shaking.
  • Surface Waves
  • Love waves: Horizontal shearing motion. Rayleigh waves: Rolling elliptical motion (like ocean waves). Both slower but larger amplitude -- cause the greatest damage. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake's damage was amplified by Love waves trapped in the lake-bed sediments.
  • 3 / 32
Slide 04

Measuring Earthquakes

  • Magnitude Scales
  • Richter Scale (1935): Charles Richter's local magnitude (ML) measured peak amplitude on a Wood-Anderson seismograph. Logarithmic: each whole number = 10x amplitude, ~31.6x energy. Saturates above M7.
  • Moment Magnitude (Mw): Developed by Hiroo Kanamori and Tom Hanks (1979). Based on seismic moment = fault area x slip x rigidity. Does not saturate. Used for all large earthquakes today.
  • Largest recorded: Chile 1960 Mw 9.5. Released energy equivalent to 25 billion tonnes of TNT.
  • Intensity Scales
  • Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI): 12 levels (I-XII) based on observed effects. I = not felt; VI = felt by all, dishes break; IX = heavy damage; XII = total destruction.
  • Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): 10 levels (0-7, with 5 and 6 split into upper/lower). Japan is the only country that broadcasts intensity in real time during earthquakes.
  • Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA): Engineering measure in g (gravity). 0.1g = minor shaking. 0.5g = severe. 1.0g+ = near-source in large earthquakes. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake recorded 2.99g at Tsukidate station.
  • 4 / 32
Slide 05

History of Earthquake Engineering

  • 132 CE
  • Zhang Heng invents the first seismoscope in China -- a bronze vessel with 8 dragon heads holding balls that drop toward frogs below, indicating earthquake direction. Could detect quakes 500 km away.
  • 1755
  • The Lisbon earthquake (M8.5-9.0) destroys the city, killing 30,000-50,000. The Marquis de Pombal rebuilds Lisbon with the "gaiola" -- a flexible timber cage within masonry walls, the first engineered seismic-resistant system.
  • 1906
  • San Francisco earthquake (M7.9) and fire destroy 80% of the city. 3,000+ dead. The subsequent investigation by Andrew Lawson identifies the San Andreas Fault and establishes the elastic rebound theory of earthquakes.
  • 1923
  • Great Kanto earthquake (M7.9) devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing 142,800. Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel, built on floating concrete pads, survives -- inspiring base isolation concepts.
  • 1933
  • Long Beach, California earthquake (M6.4) destroys schools. Leads to the Field Act -- the first U.S. seismic code for public buildings.
  • 5 / 32
Slide 06

History (continued)

  • 1971
  • San Fernando, California earthquake (M6.6). Collapse of freeway overpasses and hospitals leads to major building code revisions. The first U.S. strong-motion records from buildings spur computational earthquake engineering.
  • 1985
  • Mexico City earthquake (M8.0, epicenter 350 km away). Soft lake-bed soils amplify ground motion by 5x. 10,000+ dead. Mid-rise (6-15 story) buildings with resonant periods matching soil amplification are selectively destroyed.
  • 1994
  • Northridge, California (M6.7). $44 billion damage. Steel moment frame connections fracture at welds -- a previously unsuspected failure mode. Leads to FEMA's SAC Joint Venture and redesign of welded connections.
  • 1995
  • Kobe, Japan (M6.9). 6,434 dead. Expressway columns fail in shear despite being built to code. Japan overhauls its seismic standards. Steel-encased concrete columns become standard.
  • 2011
  • Tohoku, Japan (M9.0). The earthquake itself caused minimal structural damage thanks to Japan's building codes. The 40m tsunami killed 19,759. Triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Seawall design standards worldwide are revised.
  • 6 / 32
Slide 07

Structural Dynamics Fundamentals

  • "Every structure has a natural frequency. When the ground shakes at that frequency, the structure amplifies the motion -- like pushing a child on a swing at the right moment."
  • -- Anil Chopra, Dynamics of Structures, the field's definitive textbook
  • Natural Period
  • Every building oscillates at a characteristic period (T). Rule of thumb: T ~ N/10, where N is the number of stories. A 10-story building has T ~ 1 second. A 30-story building: T ~ 3 seconds.
  • Resonance occurs when ground motion frequency matches the structure's natural frequency. Mexico City 1985: the lake-bed amplified 2-second period waves, devastating 6-15 story buildings with similar natural periods.
  • The Response Spectrum
  • A plot of maximum response (acceleration, velocity, or displacement) vs. natural period for a given earthquake. Introduced by Maurice Biot (1932) and developed by George Housner. The design response spectrum in building codes envelopes many possible earthquakes for a given site.
  • Key insight: Short-period structures (1-3 stories) experience high accelerations. Tall structures experience large displacements. Design strategies differ accordingly.
  • 7 / 32
Slide 08

Seismic Design Philosophy

  • Modern earthquake engineering does not aim to prevent all damage -- that would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, it follows a tiered performance philosophy.
  • Performance Objectives
  • Frequent earthquakes (72-year return): No damage. Building remains fully operational. Occupants may not even notice.
  • Design earthquake (475-year return): Repairable damage. Life safety ensured. Some structural elements may yield but the building stands.
  • Maximum considered earthquake (2,475-year return): Significant damage acceptable but no collapse. Occupants can evacuate safely.
  • Key principle: "Life safety, not property protection" for standard buildings.
  • Ductility: The Key Concept
  • A ductile structure can undergo large deformations without losing its load-carrying capacity. Think of bending a paper clip vs. snapping a glass rod.
  • Reinforced concrete achieves ductility through confinement: closely spaced stirrups prevent the concrete core from crushing and the reinforcing bars from buckling. A well-detailed column can sustain 4-6% lateral drift without collapse.
  • Unreinforced masonry (URM) is the most deadly building type in earthquakes -- it is brittle and fails catastrophically. 60% of earthquake deaths worldwide occur in URM buildings. An estimated 1 billion people live in URM structures in seismic zones.
  • 8 / 32
Slide 09

Lateral Force-Resisting Systems

  • Buildings resist gravity loads vertically, but earthquakes impose horizontal forces. Special structural systems are needed to resist these lateral loads.
  • Moment Frames
  • Rigid beam-column connections resist lateral forces through bending. Highly ductile. Allow open floor plans. Used in steel and concrete. Post-Northridge: special moment frames require pre-qualified connections with demonstrated ductility. Common in U.S. and Japan.
  • Braced Frames
  • Diagonal members (braces) form triangulated systems that resist lateral forces through axial tension and compression. Stiffer than moment frames. Types: concentrically braced (X, V, chevron), eccentrically braced (deliberate weak link for ductility). Buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) prevent brace buckling -- invented in Japan, now standard globally.
  • Shear Walls
  • Solid or perforated walls (concrete or masonry) resist lateral forces through in-plane shear and bending. Very stiff. Common in mid-rise buildings and residential construction. Coupled shear walls connected by link beams combine stiffness with ductility.
  • Dual Systems
  • Combine moment frames with braced frames or shear walls. The shear walls/braces handle moderate earthquakes; the moment frames provide backup ductility for rare events. Required for tall buildings in high seismic zones.
  • Tube Systems
  • The exterior of the building acts as a giant tube -- closely spaced columns and deep spandrel beams create a rigid frame. Developed by Fazlur Rahman Khan for tall buildings. Used in the World Trade Center, Sears Tower, and many supertall towers.
  • Outrigger Systems
  • Horizontal trusses connecting a central core to perimeter columns. Dramatically reduce lateral drift. Common in supertalls: Shanghai Tower (632m), Taipei 101, Burj Khalifa. Can reduce drift by 25-40% compared to core-only systems.
  • 9 / 32
Slide 10

Base Isolation

  • "Rather than strengthening the building to resist the earthquake, we disconnect it from the earthquake."
  • -- James Kelly, UC Berkeley, pioneer of modern base isolation
  • How It Works
  • Flexible bearings between the foundation and the building decouple the structure from ground motion. The building shifts slowly on its bearings while the ground shakes violently beneath. Reduces floor accelerations by 60-80%.
  • Lead-Rubber Bearing (LRB)
  • Alternating layers of rubber and steel plates with a central lead core. The rubber provides flexibility; the steel prevents bulging; the lead core dissipates energy through yielding. Typical diameter: 0.5-1.5 meters. Developed in New Zealand by Bill Robinson (1975).
  • Notable Base-Isolated Buildings
  • USC University Hospital, Los Angeles
  • Base-isolated in 1991. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it continued operating while nearby non-isolated hospitals were evacuated. Roof acceleration was 1/3 of ground acceleration.
  • Sendai Mediatheque, Japan
  • Toyo Ito's iconic building on 38 base isolators. During the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake, the building sustained zero structural damage despite 0.28g PGA.
  • Apple Park, Cupertino
  • Apple's $5 billion headquarters sits on 692 base isolators -- the largest base-isolated building in the world. Can move 1.4 meters in any direction during an earthquake.
  • 10 / 32
Slide 11

Energy Dissipation Devices (Dampers)

  • Like shock absorbers in a car, structural dampers convert seismic energy into heat, reducing building motion.
  • Viscous Fluid Dampers
  • A piston forces silicone fluid through orifices, converting kinetic energy to heat. Originally developed for military (artillery recoil, missile launch platforms). The 73-story Torre Mayor in Mexico City has 98 viscous dampers. During the 2003 M7.6 earthquake, it sustained zero damage while surrounding buildings were damaged.
  • Tuned Mass Dampers (TMD)
  • A heavy mass on springs/dampers oscillates out of phase with the building, counteracting sway. Taipei 101's iconic 730-tonne gold-colored pendulum (the world's largest TMD) hangs between the 87th and 92nd floors, visible to tourists. During Typhoon Soudelor (2015), it swung 1 meter.
  • Friction Dampers
  • Steel plates bolted together with controlled friction slip. Energy dissipated through friction as plates slide. Pall friction dampers have been used in 90+ buildings in Canada since the 1980s. Simple, reliable, and maintenance-free.
  • Metallic Yield Dampers
  • Steel elements designed to deform plastically, absorbing energy like crumple zones in cars. Added Damping And Stiffness (ADAS) devices use X-shaped steel plates. After an earthquake, yielded dampers are replaced while the main structure remains undamaged -- "structural fuses."
  • 11 / 32
Slide 12

Soil-Structure Interaction

  • The ground is not rigid. Soil conditions can amplify or reduce earthquake shaking and fundamentally change structural response.
  • Site Amplification
  • Soft soils amplify ground motion, especially at certain frequencies. Mexico City sits on an ancient lake bed: clay deposits 40 meters deep amplify shaking by 5-50x at periods of 2-3 seconds. The 1985 earthquake's epicenter was 350 km away, yet the city experienced devastating shaking.
  • Building codes classify sites: A (hard rock) through F (liquefiable soils). Each class has different design spectra.
  • Liquefaction
  • During shaking, saturated loose sand loses its strength and behaves like a liquid. Buildings sink, tilt, or float; buried pipes and tanks float upward.
  • The 2011 Christchurch earthquake (M6.2) caused severe liquefaction across 50% of the city. Sand boils erupted through streets. 185 dead, NZ$40 billion damage. The entire central business district was demolished and rebuilt.
  • The 1964 Niigata earthquake: apartment buildings tilted 80 degrees due to liquefaction but remained structurally intact -- residents walked down the exterior walls.
  • "The best earthquake engineering begins with understanding the dirt beneath your feet."
  • -- George Housner, "father of earthquake engineering"
  • 12 / 32
Slide 13

Seismic Retrofitting

  • Most earthquake casualties occur in existing buildings, not new ones. Retrofitting -- strengthening older structures to meet modern standards -- is the greatest challenge in earthquake engineering.
  • Common Retrofit Techniques
  • Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping: Carbon or glass fiber sheets bonded to concrete columns increase confinement and ductility by 50-200%. Non-invasive, fast to install.
  • Steel jacketing: Steel plates welded around concrete columns. Used extensively after Kobe.
  • Adding shear walls: New reinforced concrete walls inserted into existing frames.
  • Base isolation retrofit: Cut building at foundation, insert bearings. Done for the San Francisco City Hall ($300M, 2000) and the Utah State Capitol.
  • Shotcrete overlays: Sprayed concrete adds thickness and reinforcement to existing walls.
  • Scale of the Problem
  • California's Challenge
  • An estimated 17,000 soft-story buildings (apartments with parking at ground level) in Los Angeles alone. Mandatory retrofit ordinance passed in 2015: owners must strengthen these buildings within 7 years. Cost: $60,000-$200,000 per building. By 2024, 80% compliance achieved.
  • Istanbul's Urgency
  • Turkey's largest city straddles the North Anatolian Fault. The 1999 Izmit earthquake (M7.6, 17,000 dead) was 100 km east. Seismologists estimate a 70% probability of M7+ earthquake near Istanbul by 2040. An estimated 200,000 buildings need retrofitting. The government's urban renewal program has rebuilt 3 million housing units since 2012.
  • 13 / 32
Slide 14

Earthquake-Resistant Materials

  • Reinforced Concrete
  • The world's most common structural material. Steel rebar provides tensile strength; concrete handles compression. Ductility depends entirely on detailing -- the spacing and arrangement of stirrups. Modern seismic codes require stirrups at 75-100mm spacing in plastic hinge zones (where the structure is designed to deform). Pre-1970s buildings often had stirrups at 300mm -- grossly inadequate.
  • Structural Steel
  • Inherently ductile and strong. Steel moment frames can undergo large rotations without collapse. But the 1994 Northridge earthquake revealed brittle fractures in welded beam-column connections -- a shock to the profession. Post-Northridge: reduced beam section (RBS, "dogbone") connections deliberately weaken the beam flange to force yielding away from the weld. Now standard in seismic design.
  • Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)
  • Nickel-titanium alloys that return to their original shape after deformation (up to 8% strain). Used as reinforcement and connectors in seismically critical elements. After an earthquake, the structure self-centers. Cost: 10-50x steel. Used in the Christchurch Southern Motorway Bridge (New Zealand, 2016) -- the first SMA-reinforced bridge.
  • Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)
  • "Bendable concrete" developed by Victor Li at the University of Michigan. Contains polyvinyl alcohol fibers that allow 3-5% tensile strain vs. 0.01% for normal concrete -- 300x more flexible. Self-heals cracks up to 0.15mm through continuing hydration. Used in bridge deck link slabs and coupling beams in Japan.
  • 14 / 32
Slide 15

Tall Buildings in Earthquake Zones

  • Designing skyscrapers in seismically active regions requires some of the most sophisticated engineering on Earth.
  • Performance-Based Design
  • Buildings taller than code limits require project-specific analysis. Engineers subject computer models to 7-11 earthquake time histories (including site-specific simulations), analyzing behavior at every floor level. Nonlinear response history analysis (NLRHA) tracks each element's state -- cracked, yielded, or failed -- through the entire earthquake.
  • Cost of structural engineering for a supertall: $20-40M. Peer review by 3-5 independent experts adds $1-3M and 6-12 months.
  • Notable Seismic Skyscrapers
  • Salesforce Tower, San Francisco (326m): 42 viscous dampers, reinforced concrete core with outriggers. Designed for M8+ on San Andreas.
  • Abeno Harukas, Osaka (300m): Oil dampers on every floor, tuned mass damper, base-isolated.
  • Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m): First Japanese supertall (1993). Active mass damper with 340-tonne weights.
  • Torre Reforma, Mexico City (246m): Triangular plan with two concrete walls and one open face. BRB dampers. Built on the lake-bed zone.
  • 15 / 32
Slide 16

Bridge Seismic Engineering

  • Bridges are critical lifeline structures -- their failure isolates communities and blocks emergency response.
  • Failure Modes
  • Unseating: The deck slides off its supports. The 1971 San Fernando earthquake caused multiple freeway collapses this way. Modern solution: restrainer cables, larger bearing seats, shear keys.
  • Column shear failure: Inadequate transverse reinforcement. The 1995 Kobe earthquake snapped columns on the Hanshin Expressway, toppling a 600-meter section on its side.
  • Foundation failure: Liquefaction causes piles to lose lateral support. The 2010 Haiti earthquake collapsed bridges on liquefiable fills.
  • Pounding: Adjacent spans collide during shaking. Thermal expansion joints provide gaps that are insufficient for seismic displacement.
  • Modern Solutions
  • San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span (2013): The replacement for the span that collapsed in 1989. A 525m self-anchored suspension span -- the world's largest. 2,500-tonne steel saddle on a single 160m tower. Designed for M8.5 on the Hayward Fault. Hinge pipe beams allow 1.5m of deck movement. Cost: $6.5 billion.
  • Rion-Antirion Bridge, Greece (2004): Crosses an active fault zone with 60m of soft soil over bedrock. Four pylons on 200 inclusions (steel tubes driven into the seabed) with no physical connection to the deck -- the deck rests on fuse-equipped bearings that can slide 2.5m. The most innovative seismic bridge design ever built.
  • 16 / 32
Slide 17

Earthquake Early Warning Systems

  • Since P-waves travel faster than damaging S-waves, sensors near the epicenter can detect an earthquake and transmit warnings electronically -- at the speed of light -- before shaking reaches distant cities.
  • Japan's System
  • Japan's Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system, operated by the JMA since 2007, is the world's most advanced. Over 1,000 seismometers detect P-waves and issue warnings within 3-5 seconds. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Tokyo received 30 seconds of warning. The system automatically:
  • Slows bullet trains (Shinkansen stopped with zero derailments)
  • Opens fire station doors
  • Triggers alerts on every phone, TV, and radio
  • Shuts down factory assembly lines
  • Alerts elevator systems to stop at nearest floor
  • ShakeAlert (U.S. West Coast)
  • USGS ShakeAlert system launched publicly in 2019 (California), 2021 (Oregon, Washington). Uses 1,675+ sensors. Warning times: 10-60 seconds depending on distance from epicenter. Delivered via Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on smartphones.
  • Limitations: Near-source earthquakes (directly below a city) allow only 0-5 seconds warning. The system is most useful for earthquakes 50+ km away.
  • What you can do in 10 seconds: Drop-Cover-Hold On, move away from windows, pull over a car, step back from hazardous equipment, secure a surgical patient.
  • 17 / 32
Slide 18

Tsunami Engineering

  • "The stones tell: do not build your houses below this point."
  • -- Tsunami warning stones in Aneyoshi village, Japan, placed after the 1896 tsunami. The village was spared in 2011.
  • Tsunami Characteristics
  • In the open ocean: 0.3-1m height, 200+ km wavelength, 700+ km/h speed (as fast as a jet). In shallow water: slows to 30-50 km/h but height can reach 30-40m. The 2011 Tohoku tsunami reached 40.5m runup at Miyako. Inundation extended 10 km inland at Sendai Plain.
  • Flow forces on structures: 10-100 kPa. A 3m-deep flow exerts force equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane wind on every floor it contacts. Plus debris impact: cars, shipping containers, boats become projectiles.
  • Engineering Countermeasures
  • Seawalls: Japan has 400 km of tsunami barriers. Kamaishi's $1.6B breakwater (deepest in the world at 63m) was overtopped in 2011 but reduced the tsunami from 13m to 8m, buying 6 minutes of evacuation time.
  • Vertical evacuation: Reinforced concrete buildings designated as tsunami refuges. FEMA P-646 guideline. Japan has 1,700+ designated evacuation buildings.
  • Land use planning: Buffer zones, elevated platforms for critical facilities, green belts of trees (limited effectiveness).
  • DART buoy network: 71 deep-ocean tsunami sensors worldwide trigger warnings within 10 minutes.
  • 18 / 32
Slide 19

Seismic Codes Around the World

  • Major Building Codes
  • ASCE 7 / IBC (United States): Updated every 3-6 years. Risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake (MCER) maps. Importance factors for hospitals (1.5), schools (1.25).
  • Eurocode 8 (Europe): Harmonized across 30+ countries. Behavior factor (q) approach for ductility. National annexes allow local adaptation.
  • BSL (Japan): Two-level design: Level 1 (moderate, elastic response) and Level 2 (severe, inelastic but no collapse). The most stringent code in the world for tall buildings.
  • NCh 433 (Chile): Evolved through a series of great earthquakes. Strict wall-building tradition produces extremely stiff, well-performing structures.
  • IS 1893 (India): Seismic zone map divides India into 4 zones (II-V). Enforcement remains the greatest challenge.
  • The Enforcement Gap
  • Turkey 2023: The Enforcement Tragedy
  • The February 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes (M7.8 + M7.5) killed 59,259 people. Turkey had a modern seismic code (2018 revision). The problem: widespread non-compliance. Investigations revealed:
  • Columns with smooth rebar (banned since 1975)
  • Concrete strength 50% below specifications
  • Missing stirrups in beam-column joints
  • Illegal additional floors without permits
  • Construction amnesties pardoning code violations
  • Over 700 contractors and engineers were arrested.
  • 19 / 32
Slide 20

Shake Tables and Testing

  • Shake tables reproduce earthquake ground motions in the laboratory, allowing engineers to test full-scale or scaled structures to destruction.
  • World's Largest Shake Tables
  • E-Defense (Miki, Japan): The world's largest, 20m x 15m platform, 1,200-tonne payload capacity. Can simulate 3D earthquake motion. Has tested 6-story steel buildings, 4-story wood buildings, and bridge piers. Cost: $500M (2005).
  • UCSD (San Diego, U.S.): NHERI facility with outdoor shake table (7.6m x 12.2m). Tested a full-scale 5-story reinforced concrete building (2012) and a 10-story cold-formed steel building (2023).
  • CEA Saclay (France): Azalee table (6m x 6m, 100-tonne). Used for nuclear power plant equipment qualification.
  • Hybrid Simulation
  • Combines physical testing of critical components with computer simulation of the rest of the structure. A column is tested on a shake table while the computer calculates forces from the simulated floors above. Real-time feedback at 200+ Hz. Developed at the University of Illinois.
  • Allows testing a single story's response within a 50-story building's dynamic behavior without building the entire structure.
  • The NHERI network (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) operates 13 experimental facilities across the U.S., funded by NSF at $60M/year.
  • 20 / 32
Slide 21

Computational Earthquake Engineering

  • Nonlinear Analysis
  • Modern earthquake engineering relies on nonlinear finite element analysis to predict structural behavior beyond the elastic limit. Software like OpenSees (UC Berkeley, open-source), PERFORM-3D, and LS-DYNA model cracking, yielding, buckling, and collapse.
  • A typical tall building model has 100,000+ degrees of freedom and takes 8-24 hours per earthquake simulation on a workstation. Seven to eleven simulations are run for design verification.
  • Ground Motion Simulation
  • Physics-based earthquake simulations model wave propagation through 3D geological structures. The SCEC CyberShake project simulates millions of earthquake scenarios for the entire Los Angeles basin. Each scenario takes thousands of CPU-hours.
  • These simulations are replacing probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) with physics-based maps that capture basin effects, directivity, and soil amplification specific to each site.
  • AI and Machine Learning
  • Neural networks trained on thousands of analyses predict structural response 1,000x faster than finite element models. Used for rapid post-earthquake damage assessment (USGS ShakeMap + building fragility functions), real-time structural health monitoring, and regional loss estimation. Stanford's Blume Center has developed ML models predicting building collapse probability within seconds of an earthquake.
  • Digital Twins
  • Sensor-instrumented buildings create real-time computational models. Japan's SHM (Structural Health Monitoring) network includes 300+ instrumented buildings. After each earthquake, sensor data is compared to model predictions. If discrepancies appear, engineers inspect for hidden damage.
  • 21 / 32
Slide 22

Japan: The Gold Standard

  • Japan experiences ~1,500 felt earthquakes per year and has invested more in earthquake engineering than any other nation. Its buildings, infrastructure, and cultural preparedness are the world benchmark.
  • Key Facts
  • Building Standards Law revised after every major earthquake since 1923
  • 1981 "New Seismic Design Method" introduced two-level design -- structures built after 1981 performed dramatically better in Kobe (1995)
  • Over 5,000 base-isolated buildings (70%+ of world total)
  • Shinkansen: zero passenger fatalities from earthquakes in 60 years of operation; ETWS (Early Warning System for Trains) triggers emergency braking
  • Annual disaster preparedness drills on September 1 (anniversary of 1923 Great Kanto earthquake) -- 34 million participants
  • Seismic performance certificates displayed in building lobbies
  • The 2011 Tohoku Test
  • The M9.0 earthquake was the 4th largest ever recorded. Ground shaking lasted 6 minutes. Peak acceleration: 2.99g.
  • Building performance: Of 65,000+ buildings in the strongly shaken zone, only 261 collapsed from shaking (0.4%). Modern (post-1981) buildings: near-zero collapses. The earthquake validated decades of seismic code evolution.
  • The tsunami, not the earthquake, caused 97% of the deaths. This shifted Japan's focus to tsunami evacuation infrastructure, multi-hazard resilience, and coastal defense.
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Slide 23

Resilience-Based Design

  • "The goal is not just life safety but functional recovery -- getting buildings and communities back to normal as quickly as possible."
  • -- FEMA P-58 Framework for Performance-Based Seismic Design
  • Beyond Life Safety
  • Traditional codes ensure buildings don't collapse but accept extensive damage. After the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, 80% of CBD buildings were structurally sound but had to be demolished due to unrepairable damage to partitions, cladding, stairs, and services.
  • Resilience-based design adds recovery time as a design criterion: hospitals must be functional within 24 hours; critical infrastructure within 72 hours; commercial buildings within 30 days.
  • REDi Rating System
  • Developed by Arup (2013), REDi (Resilience-based Earthquake Design Initiative) rates buildings as Gold, Silver, or Platinum based on expected downtime, repair costs, and injuries.
  • Platinum: Immediately occupiable after design earthquake. Repair costs Gold: Re-occupancy within days. Repair costs Silver: Re-occupancy within weeks. Repair costs
  • 181 Fremont in San Francisco achieved the first REDi Platinum rating for a supertall building (244m, 2018).
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Slide 24

Lessons from Recent Earthquakes

  • Nepal 2015 (M7.8)
  • 8,969 dead. 600,000+ buildings destroyed, mostly unreinforced stone/mud masonry in rural areas. Historic Dharahara tower collapsed. UNESCO heritage sites in Kathmandu Valley heavily damaged. Exposed the gap between urban engineered construction and rural traditional buildings. Led to Nepal's first mandatory national building code enforcement.
  • Turkey-Syria 2023 (M7.8 + M7.5)
  • 59,259 dead. 164,000+ buildings collapsed or severely damaged. The deadliest earthquake in Turkey since 1939. Pre-dawn timing maximized casualties (people asleep). Hospitals, schools, and emergency shelters collapsed. "Pancake collapse" of flat-slab buildings was the dominant failure mode. Exposed systemic corruption in construction permitting and inspection.
  • Morocco 2023 (M6.8)
  • 2,946 dead. Remote Atlas Mountains villages with stone/mud construction devastated. Access roads blocked by landslides, delaying rescue by days. Highlighted that earthquake risk extends beyond well-known seismic zones -- Morocco's previous major earthquake was in 1960 (Agadir, 12,000 dead).
  • Noto, Japan 2024 (M7.6)
  • 241 dead -- Japan's deadliest since Kobe. Older wooden buildings in rural Ishikawa Prefecture collapsed. Fire destroyed Wajima's historic market district. Tsunami warnings issued within minutes. Demonstrated that even in Japan, older buildings in rural areas remain vulnerable.
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Slide 25

Pioneers of Earthquake Engineering

  • George Housner (1910-2008)
  • "Father of earthquake engineering." Caltech professor who founded the field as a quantitative discipline. Developed the response spectrum concept, earthquake intensity scales, and dam engineering criteria. His students populated seismic engineering programs worldwide. First recipient of the Housner Medal, which bears his name.
  • Vitelmo Bertero (1923-2016)
  • UC Berkeley professor who conducted pioneering shake table tests. Introduced the concept of "performance-based earthquake engineering" in the 1990s. Born in Argentina, he experienced the 1944 San Juan earthquake that killed 10,000 -- inspiring his career. Tested more structural specimens than anyone in history.
  • Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929-1982)
  • Bangladeshi-American structural engineer at SOM who revolutionized tall building design. Created the tube structural system for the John Hancock Center (1969) and Sears Tower (1973). His innovation reduced steel usage by 30-50%, making supertalls economically viable. Died at 52; called "the Einstein of structural engineering" by colleagues.
  • Kiyoshi Muto (1903-1989)
  • Japan's preeminent earthquake engineer. Developed the D-value method for estimating building lateral stiffness -- used in Japan's building code for decades. Designed the Kasumigaseki Building (1968), Japan's first high-rise. Founded Muto Institute, now part of Building Research Institute.
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Slide 26

The Cascadia Subduction Zone

  • "When the next great Cascadia earthquake occurs, it will be the worst natural disaster in North American history."
  • -- FEMA Director Craig Fugate (2013)
  • The Threat
  • The Cascadia Subduction Zone extends 1,100 km from Cape Mendocino (California) to Vancouver Island (Canada). The Juan de Fuca plate subducts beneath North America. The last great earthquake: January 26, 1700 -- an M9.0 event recorded by Japanese tsunami records and oral histories of Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples. Average recurrence: ~240 years. We are currently at 325 years.
  • Expected M9 shaking would last 3-5 minutes. A tsunami of 6-12 meters would reach the coast in 15-30 minutes.
  • Preparedness
  • FEMA's Cascadia Rising exercise (2016) simulated the scenario: 13,000 dead, 27,000 injured, 1 million displaced, $48 billion in damage. Interstate 5 and most bridges across the Willamette River would be impassable.
  • Oregon's seismic retrofit program for schools: $1.3 billion bond passed in 2023
  • Washington's SR 99 tunnel (2019) replaced the seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct
  • British Columbia requires new schools to be post-disaster functional
  • Tsunami vertical evacuation towers built in Westport, WA and Cannon Beach, OR
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Slide 27

Traditional Earthquake-Resistant Structures

  • Long before modern engineering, builders in seismic regions developed remarkably effective structural systems through centuries of trial and error.
  • Japanese Pagodas
  • Five-story pagodas have survived earthquakes for 1,400+ years (e.g., Horyu-ji, 607 CE). Their secret: a central shinbashira (heart pillar) acts like a tuned mass damper, swinging independently of the floors. Loose-fitting timber joints allow controlled deformation. The floors swing in alternating directions like a snake's body. Tokyo Skytree (634m, 2012) incorporates this principle in its modern design.
  • Pombaline Buildings, Lisbon
  • After the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the Marquis de Pombal mandated the "gaiola" (cage) system for reconstruction. A flexible timber frame within masonry walls, tested by marching troops around models to simulate earthquake vibrations. These buildings survived the 1969 earthquake while neighboring non-gaiola buildings were damaged. The world's first building code for seismic resistance.
  • Dhajji-Dewari (Kashmir)
  • Timber-braced masonry walls used in Kashmir for centuries. The timber frame contains masonry infill in small panels. When shaking occurs, panels can crack and fail individually without progressive collapse. During the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, dhajji-dewari buildings performed far better than modern reinforced concrete block construction. Now being revived as an earthquake-resistant construction technique.
  • Inca Stonework (Peru)
  • Inca walls at Sacsayhuaman and Machu Picchu use precisely cut polygonal stones without mortar, with slightly inward-leaning walls. During earthquakes, stones "dance" -- bouncing and resettling into place. Colonial Spanish buildings in Cusco repeatedly collapsed while Inca foundations survived. Some walls have withstood earthquakes for 600+ years.
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Slide 28

Earthquake Insurance and Economics

  • $35BAverage annual global earthquake losses (Munich Re)
  • ~12%California homeowners with earthquake insurance
  • $200B+Estimated loss from M7.8 on San Andreas
  • The Insurance Gap
  • Despite high risk, earthquake insurance uptake is low worldwide. In California, only 12% of homeowners carry earthquake insurance (down from 33% before the 1994 Northridge earthquake raised premiums). In Italy, less than 2% of homes have natural disaster insurance.
  • The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) provides policies with high deductibles (10-25% of dwelling value). A $500,000 home might have a $75,000 deductible -- meaning the owner absorbs the first $75,000 of damage.
  • Cost-Benefit of Seismic Design
  • Seismic design adds 1-5% to construction costs for new buildings. For a $100M building: $1-5M for seismic engineering and details. But a single earthquake can cause total loss.
  • FEMA P-366 estimated that every $1 spent on seismic mitigation saves $4-6 in avoided losses. The UN estimates that every $1 invested in disaster risk reduction saves $7 in disaster-related economic losses.
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Slide 29

Emerging Technologies

  • Metamaterials for Seismic Cloaking
  • Arrays of boreholes or buried structures can deflect seismic waves around a building -- analogous to optical invisibility cloaks. Researchers in France (Menard, 2012) demonstrated that a grid of boreholes reduced ground vibration by 50%. Full seismic cloaking remains theoretical but progressing.
  • Self-Centering Structures
  • Post-tensioned rocking systems use unbonded tendons to pull a structure back to vertical after earthquake deformation. The Southern Cross Endoscopy building in Christchurch (PRESSS technology) rocked during the 2011 earthquake and returned to plumb with zero residual drift. Now specified in New Zealand codes.
  • 3D-Printed Seismic Structures
  • ICON's 3D-printed concrete buildings include seismic reinforcement in their toolpath. Printed houses in Mexico (2020) and Texas demonstrate rapid deployment. Contour Crafting (USC) has proposed printing seismically resilient emergency housing in 24 hours for post-disaster response.
  • Smartphone Seismology
  • MEMS accelerometers in smartphones can detect earthquakes. The MyShake app (UC Berkeley, 2016) has 1 million+ downloads and detected 900+ earthquakes. Crowdsourced seismology can create dense networks in countries without instrument infrastructure.
  • AI Damage Assessment
  • Satellite and drone imagery analyzed by convolutional neural networks can assess building damage within hours of an earthquake. xView2 dataset (2019) trains models on pre/post-disaster satellite pairs. Accuracy: 80%+ for collapsed vs. intact classification. Used operationally by UNOSAT and FEMA.
  • Geotechnical Interventions
  • Soil improvement to prevent liquefaction: deep mixing, stone columns, and compaction grouting can densify loose soils. Bio-cementation using bacteria (microbially induced calcite precipitation) offers a chemical-free soil stabilization method being tested in the Netherlands and New Zealand.
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Slide 30

Earthquake Prediction: The Unsolved Problem

  • The State of Prediction
  • Despite decades of research, reliable short-term earthquake prediction (specifying time, location, and magnitude within narrow windows) remains impossible. Failed predictions:
  • The Parkfield experiment (1985): predicted M6 by 1993 on a fault segment with regular earthquakes. It occurred in 2004.
  • L'Aquila, Italy (2009): six scientists convicted (later acquitted on appeal) of manslaughter for inadequate risk communication before an M6.3 earthquake that killed 309.
  • VAN method (Greece, 1980s): claimed prediction from electromagnetic signals. Statistical analyses showed no better than chance.
  • What We Can Do
  • Probabilistic hazard assessment: We can estimate the probability of an earthquake in a region over decades. E.g., 72% chance of M6.7+ in the San Francisco Bay Area by 2043 (USGS).
  • Operational earthquake forecasting: After a large earthquake, the probability of aftershocks (or triggered events on nearby faults) increases and can be quantified.
  • Machine learning approaches: Google DeepMind and Los Alamos Lab experiments show promise in detecting precursory signals in fault friction data, but field validation remains elusive.
  • "We cannot predict earthquakes. We can prepare for them. And preparation is far more effective than prediction would ever be."
  • -- Lucy Jones, seismologist, USGS (retired)
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Slide 31

The Future of Earthquake Engineering

  • Grand Challenges
  • Close the vulnerability gap: 1 billion+ people live in seismically vulnerable structures. Low-cost, locally buildable solutions are needed more than advanced technology.
  • Functional recovery codes: Move beyond "don't collapse" to "recover quickly." California's AB 1857 (2023) requires functional recovery standards for new buildings by 2026.
  • Multi-hazard resilience: Design for combined earthquake + tsunami, earthquake + fire, and cascading infrastructure failures.
  • Climate change interaction: Permafrost thaw exposes structures to seismic hazards they weren't designed for. Soil moisture changes affect liquefaction potential.
  • Megacity preparedness: Istanbul, Tehran, Lima, Kathmandu, and Jakarta face existential seismic threats. Population growth outpaces retrofitting.
  • Technological Horizon
  • Real-time adaptive structures that change stiffness during an earthquake using magnetorheological dampers
  • Full-scale seismic cloaking of critical infrastructure
  • Autonomous post-earthquake inspection by robot swarms and drones
  • Community-scale base isolation (entire neighborhoods on shared isolators -- proposed for Wellington, NZ)
  • Complete digital twin cities for scenario modeling and emergency response optimization
  • 4D printing of self-repairing structural elements
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Slide 32

Building for the Unpredictable

  • From Pombal's timber cages in 1755 Lisbon to AI-driven resilience in 2024, earthquake engineering is the discipline that confronts nature's most violent force with ingenuity, humility, and the conviction that no one should die because of how a building was built.
  • "We are not earthquake-proof. But we can be earthquake-resilient. The difference is the choice to prepare."
  • -- Kit Miyamoto, structural engineer and humanitarian
  • Earthquake Engineering -- A Presentation
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