Seismic engineering

Seismic engineering analyzes earthquake ground motion and designs structures to limit damage and protect life. It combines knowledge of earthquakes, structural behavior, and construction.

Seismic hazard analysis: The estimation of earthquake ground motions and related hazards at a site. It translates regional earthquakes and local geology into design-level shaking estimates.
Earthquake ground motion: The shaking of the ground produced by seismic waves from an earthquake. It is the input motion that seismic design must anticipate and accommodate.
Seismic building code: A set of legal requirements for designing and constructing buildings to resist earthquake effects. Codes turn seismic hazard estimates and performance goals into minimum design rules.
1906 San Francisco earthquake: A major California earthquake that struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906, and caused widespread destruction and fires. Its damage exposed the vulnerability of buildings and infrastructure to strong shaking and fire.
Conventional seismic design: Earthquake-resistant design that relies primarily on a structure’s own strength and ductility rather than added isolation systems. It contrasts with base-isolated designs that reduce the motion entering the structure.
Response spectrum: A graph of maximum oscillator responses across natural periods for a specified ground motion. Designers use it to estimate how buildings with different dynamic periods respond to shaking.
Structural dynamics: The study of how structures move and respond under time-varying forces. Its models explain how a structure’s mass, stiffness, and damping shape earthquake response.
Seismic retrofit: The strengthening or modification of an existing structure to improve its earthquake performance. Retrofit applies seismic design principles to buildings that predate current requirements.
1964 Alaska earthquake: A magnitude 9.2 earthquake that struck southern Alaska on March 27, 1964. Its ground failures and structural damage advanced understanding of seismic hazards and design.
Base isolation: A structural strategy that inserts flexible, energy-dissipating bearings between a building and its foundation. It offers a distinct alternative to strengthening the superstructure to resist larger forces.

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