Earthquake Essay

573 Words2 Pages

Geoffrey Yang
Physics Per. 1
Bennett
w/ Paul Eremenco
How Are Buildings made to be Earthquake-Proof/Resistant?
“Earthquakes alone don't kill people; collapsed buildings do” (Sutter). In addition to possibly causing tsunamis, earthquakes are responsible for releasing enormous amounts of energy that spread through the crust as seismic waves. These seismic waves include P-waves and S-waves. While P-waves do not cause as much destruction due to their vertical movement, S-waves can cause buildings to collapse completely due to the waves’ lateral movement. In addition to collapsing buildings, earthquakes can also cause liquefaction which is when loosely packed soils temporarily behave like liquids, resulting in sliding and sinking buildings (Harris). Earthquakes have been responsible for 60% of all deaths caused by natural disasters in the past decade (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya).
When designing an earthquake-proof building, certain preparations must be made. Before building design starts, engineers first determine the seismic risks of the location based on historical data. ...

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Earthquake Essay

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