Earthquakes Safe Buildings
There is no way to tell just when or where an earthquake will occur. For that reason, engineers build structures able to withstand strong ground shaking. Engineers make buildings fastened to their foundations and also, they make the walls strong to prevent the building from falling. Walls can be made stronger by adding braces. They help a building or a structure keep its shape while it is being shaken. There is a method called base isolators and they are placed between a building and its foundation. The isolator are stacked like pancakes and they are made of flexible materials, so when an earthquake occurs, isolators absorb much of the ground motion. To the buildings that are already built that is not earthquake proof, engineers add support to those structures to make them survive earthquake.There are tips about what to do before, during and after an earthquake for safety. Before the earthquake, you could fasten heavy objects and you could also identify safe spots in every room. During an earthquake, if you are inside a building, stay inside until the shaking stops. If you are outdoors move away from buildings and trees. After an earthquake, Contact people who lives in another town and make sure are safe. /
1.What are 3 things that can be done to a building to help it withstand the forces of an earthquake? ______
______
______
______
2. What are 3 things that you can do prior to and during an earthquake to increase your chance of surviving an Earthquake? ______
______
______
______
3. Watch the video "Earthquake resistance" and explain how these earthquake counter measures prevent major damages during an earthquake
X or K Bracing: ______
______
Counter Balance: ______
______
Base Isolators: ______
______
Richter Scale
1. How much bigger is a 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake than a 6.0 Richter Scale earthquake? Also, at what Richter Scale will earthquake start making major damage to buildings? ______
______
______
======STOP Wait for further instructions ======
Use the above Richter Magnitude chart to solve the following questions
1. A seismic station located 60 km from the epicenter of an earthquake, recorded the maximum height of the S-waves to be 50 mm. What was the Richter magnitude of this earthquake?
______
2. An earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 6.0 caused an S-wave of 20 mm to be recorded on a seismograph. How far from the epicenter was the seismograph?
______
3. What would be the maximum height of an S-wave, if an earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 1.5 was detected at a distance of 5 km. from the epicenter?
______
4. What magnitude earthquake would produce an S-wave of 1.0 mm at a distance of 100 km. from the epicenter?
______