Earthquake Resistant Building

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) says that more than half of India is at risk of earthquakes. Estimates also show that by 2050, storms and earthquakes will affect more than 200 million people who live in cities. This makes it very important for homebuyers in India to make sure that their homes won’t fall down in the event of a disaster that shakes the earth. It’s important not only for people’s safety but also for the long-term security of investments.

There are four areas on the Indian continent that are likely to have earthquakes. Zone V includes the most dangerous places, such as Kashmir, the Western and Central Himalayas, North and Middle Bihar, North-East India, the Rann of Kutch, and the islands of Andaman and Nicobar. Zone IV, or the High Damage Risk Zone, includes places like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, North Punjab, Chandigarh, Western Uttar Pradesh, Terai, North Bengal, Sundarbans, and the capital city of Delhi. Zones III and II are called “Moderate Damage Risk Zones” and “Low Damage Risk Zones”

If you are thinking about buying a home in one of these Zone IV and Zone V areas, you need to know what your home or building must have to protect it from earthquakes. There is a lot to know about buying a home in an earthquake-prone area, whether it is right on top of a fault line or miles away.

If you want to buy a house in a good neighborhood that is also prone to earthquakes, you need to plan ahead. Also, if you want to buy a house, knowing which neighborhoods are the safest can help you make a well-thought-out decision that fits your needs. Here are some ideas that might help you make your choice:

01. Know which buildings are most at risk – Homes that are most likely to be damaged by an earthquake are made of unreinforced brick, stone, wood, or mud. Structures that have an uneven horizontal or vertical plan because of how the floors are set up, where the elevators and stairs are placed, etc., are also more likely to fall during an earthquake.

02. Insurance against quakes – Homeowners in areas that are prone to earthquakes must get special insurance to protect their home and belongings. In India, many insurance companies in both the public and private sectors offer the Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (SFSP) with earthquake (EQ) add-on cover. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) sets the price of the premium, but it’s up to you to figure out how much coverage you’d need to get back on your feet after a big earthquake. Also, it’s best not to choose a high deductible that you wouldn’t be able to pay after a big disaster.

03. A home Inspection – Hire a professional engineer to do a home inspection before deciding to buy property in an area prone to earthquakes. The engineer will look at every part of the building, including how well it is built, how good the materials are, how strong the steel beams are, and how well it can stand up to a tremor. They can find problems or weaknesses and suggest ways to fix them.

04. Find a real estate agent – Look for a real estate agent who is registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and has real experience finding properties that can withstand natural disasters. They should also know about parts of the city that might not be in the most dangerous earthquake zones. Someone who knows a lot about real estate in the area can help the buyer make the process easier and less stressful.

Contents

• How to Buy a House in a place that is Prone to Earthquakes
• Earthquake Resistance Technologies
• Making high rises safe from earthquakes
• Materials that can withstand earthquakes
• Things to look for in buildings that can withstand an earthquake

When buying an apartment in an area that is prone to earthquakes, make sure that the building was carefully built using different types of earthquake-resistant technologies, which create a safe and sturdy building. Here are a few technologies that make sure a building can stand up to earthquakes:

1. Dampers – Dampers are built into buildings to absorb shock waves and reduce their effect on the building. They do this by turning the energy of the shock wave into heat, which is then transferred into a hydraulic fluid. There are big pistons inside the cylinders of these dampers, which are filled with silicone oil. When an earthquake hits, the pistons push against the oil, turning the mechanical energy into heat energy.

2. Seismic cloaking – To keep a building from swaying, engineers put many plastic rings in boreholes that go as deep as 200 m underground and are spaced in a grid under the building’s surface. The structures around the base of the building keep earthquake waves from hitting the base.

3. The foundation that levitates – Engineers have been using base isolation by levitation for years to protect buildings from earthquakes. The building’s foundation floats on lead-rubber bearings with a solid lead core wrapped in layers of rubber and steel. This separates the building’s substructure from its superstructure.

4. System for controlled rocking – This system is made up of flexible steel frames that sit on top of the foundation and rock back and forth when a quake hits. In addition to the steel frames, there are vertical cables that connect the top of each frame to the foundation. This keeps rocking to a minimum. The cables have a self-centering feature that keeps the building standing even as it moves.

When it comes to high rises and skyscrapers, more complicated technologies are used to protect against earthquakes. Here are some of them:

• A large, usually spherical weight is suspended near the top of the structure. With the help of hydraulics, the weight moves in the opposite direction of an earthquake to dissipate the energy of the seismic waves.
• A core wall made of reinforced concrete runs through the middle of the building and reduces acceleration and shear forces on the floor.
• Even though they are still in the testing phase, shape memory alloys are going to change the way earthquake-proofing technology works. The building’s columns are made of a nickel-titanium alloy that can take a lot of pressure and still go back to its original shape.

Earthquake-proofing is all about building with materials that are strong, flexible, and dense. Seismic waves must not be able to damage a building that was built with the right materials. Always ask what kind of materials were used to build the building you want to buy. The best person to ask for this information would be the structural engineer. Here are some building materials that can withstand an earthquake:

1. Concrete with steel in it – This is a composite material made of concrete and steel that is mixed together. The relatively low tensile strength and ductility of concrete is made up for by the higher tensile strength and ductility of the steel reinforcement.

2. Ferrocement – This thin-wall reinforced concrete is made of a composite mortar plaster that is put on both sides of a well-spaced layer of metal wire meshing.

3. Adobe bricks – These bricks are made by hand from a mixture of clay-rich earth and straw. The mixture is pressed into open molds in the ground and left to dry. These are great for stopping earthquake waves.

As cities grow quickly, there are a lot of new multi-story buildings going up everywhere. Due to the fierce competition between developers, many buildings are built quickly and without following all of the earthquake safety rules. To make sure a building can withstand an earthquake, a buyer must look at the following things:

1. The separation between two buildings – Buildings in an apartment complex that are next to each other but have separation joints between them must be spaced apart by an amount equal to the sum of the storey displacements. This is to avoid a collision between two structures that move toward each other.

2. Soft storey – A storey is called “soft” if its side-to-side stiffness is less than 70% of the storey above it or less than 80% of the average side-to-side stiffness of the three storeys above it. You should make sure that your house isn’t on a soft storey.

3. Foundation – For buildings in seismic zones III, IV, and V, the foundations shouldn’t be able to settle in different ways when the ground shakes. This could make it more likely for a building to fall over to the side.

4. Making a building – Buildings with a very narrow shape are not safe in an earthquake and should be avoided at all costs. A structure is also more likely to fall down if it is not balanced.

5. Drift – Drift is the maximum sideways movement of a building compared to its total height. The building should not move side to side when the ground moves.

A Home InspectionAdobe BricksConcrete With Steel In It