DESIGNING FOR EARTHQUAKES

DESIGNING FOR EARTHQUAKES

Michael Davis, Wellington, New Zealand

Michael is an architect, working in New Zealand, where buildings can be subject to sudden earthquakes.  How do you create structures that will withstand abrupt lateral and vertical movements?  And how do you strengthen existing buildings to preserve life in the event of a big quake? What about the School’s building? Read on to understand more about these challenges; this is necessarily quite a technical article. Michael is a senior student in Wellington, shown here in front of the School building in Wellington.

New Zealand is located on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire – a string of volcanoes and areas of earthquake activity around the edges of that ocean caused by the junction of two tectonic plates. This has produced some dramatic scenery like our Southern Alps, but also active volcanoes and geothermal areas. In addition there are thousands of earthquakes every year in New Zealand, of which an average of 250 are felt in some part of the country.

When is the big earthquake?

Despite growing up in Wellington I’m still uncomfortable when there’s a detectable earthquake, asking myself: ‘Will this be the big one?’ … 

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