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Name: Michael C.
Status: Student
Age: 13
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001
Question:
Would you be able to put a rubber foundation so the building would just sway back and forth during the earthquake.


Replies:
Yes, the use of "base isolation systems", which are generally special rubber pads that bolt between the columns of a building and the ground, has become relatively common over the last 15 years. These pads let the building sit relatively still while the ground moves horizontally back and forth during an earthquake. To learn more about this topic, go to the following link at the National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley:

http://nisee.berkeley.edu/lessons/kelly.html

Andy Johnson, Ph.D., P.E.


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