STRONG-MOTION ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING AND REDUCING THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKES

Increasing numbers of lives are endangered and substantial economic resources are jeopardized by the growing urban expansion in earthquake-prone areas. This expansion will probably continue for many years. An important factor that complicates any earthquake-hazard-reduction program is that seismologists, geologists, and engineers still known far too little about quantifying the various kinds and degrees of earthquake hazard. We can mitigate undesirable earthquake effects in a number of ways, but not all are currently feasible. Techniques are being developed with which land-use planners will be able to zone, as geologically hazardous, active-fault areas, potential landslide areas, and regions of structurally poor ground. The role of the earthquake engineer is then to reduce the hazards to acceptable levels wherever possible. However, the vast majority of the population of earthquake-prone regions, as well as most developed property, are located not directly in fault zones and landslide areas but in areas where strong ground shaking can cause loss of life and property damage. It follows, then, that the key to an efficient hazard-reduction program is an adequate understanding of the destructive seismic forces involved--or, in other words of the characteristics of the strong ground motions of earthquakes.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Academy of Sciences

  Committee on Seismology
  Washington, DC  United States  20418
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 17 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Earthquakes; Safety
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00050439
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 24 1974 12:00AM