4 ms·

I really hope the SF rules for building giant buildings are similar to recent Japan ones. What I've heard is that after the Kobe earthquake, Japanese earthquak

by rtpg 10y ago

I really hope the SF rules for building giant buildings are similar to recent Japan ones. What I've heard is that after the Kobe earthquake, Japanese earthquake rules have been made so good that anything built after '95 has never fallen over, even in 2011-sized earthquakes (at least until the tsunami came).

djcapelis 10y ago
California seismic building codes are pretty solid. The state does its own earthquake research and has definitely lead the US in terms of building codes. In the US, CA's seismic exam for structural engineers is considered the most rigorous in the country. Generally, the seismic codes are roughly at Japanese levels. However, CA's buildings are mostly older.
- pix64 10y ago
  But this was built in 2008
flukus 10y ago
Has there been a comparable earthquake yet?
- mikekchar 10y ago
  Here's a list of large earthquakes in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan There have been several large M7+ earthquakes in populated areas since the Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake. Tohoku was obviously the biggest. Several of the Tohoku aftershocks were over M7. This spring there was a M7 earthquake in Kumamoto, which I think is the largest earthquake in a very populated area since 2011. Japan get several very large earthquakes every year, but they are usually in less populated areas. It's quite common to get M6+ earthquakes in populated areas, though. As the GP notes, damage is usually amazingly limited. I experienced one and was very surprised that nothing was damaged in my house. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ is super interesting to look at because you get a real sense of just how often Japan is hit with earthquakes (several a day!).
  - amatix 10y ago
    https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt is the same for New Zealand... there's a moderate or strong quake every couple of weeks, and little ones all the time

by rtpg 10y ago

djcapelis 10y ago

California seismic building codes are pretty solid. The state does its own earthquake research and has definitely lead the US in terms of building codes. In the US, CA's seismic exam for structural engineers is considered the most rigorous in the country. Generally, the seismic codes are roughly at Japanese levels. However, CA's buildings are mostly older.

pix64 10y ago
But this was built in 2008

flukus 10y ago

Has there been a comparable earthquake yet?

mikekchar 10y ago
Here's a list of large earthquakes in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan There have been several large M7+ earthquakes in populated areas since the Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake. Tohoku was obviously the biggest. Several of the Tohoku aftershocks were over M7. This spring there was a M7 earthquake in Kumamoto, which I think is the largest earthquake in a very populated area since 2011. Japan get several very large earthquakes every year, but they are usually in less populated areas. It's quite common to get M6+ earthquakes in populated areas, though. As the GP notes, damage is usually amazingly limited. I experienced one and was very surprised that nothing was damaged in my house. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ is super interesting to look at because you get a real sense of just how often Japan is hit with earthquakes (several a day!).
- amatix 10y ago
  https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt is the same for New Zealand... there's a moderate or strong quake every couple of weeks, and little ones all the time