Turkey\u2019s Adana Hospital survived the February 2023 earthquakes with no damage because of its seismic isolation system. Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc., CC BY-ND<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Several hospitals built with one such technology<\/a> \u2013 called a seismic isolation system \u2013 survived the earthquakes<\/a> with almost no harm, according to local news reports, even while surrounding buildings sustained heavy damage.<\/p>\n Adana City Hospital was built to record both ground shaking and the building\u2019s response. Thanks to its seismic isolation system, the building saw a 75% reduction in shaking<\/a>, according to the company that designed the isolation system, compared with neighbouring structures. This system allowed the building to stay up and running after the earthquake.<\/p>\n Engineers aren\u2019t surprised that the hospitals with seismic isolation systems survived with minimal damage, but through my work as a civil engineer<\/a>, I\u2019ve been hearing people in Turkey and abroad ask why more buildings don\u2019t use these smarter engineering technologies.<\/p>\n A year after the 1999 \u0130zmit earthquake in Turkey killed over 17,000 people, I moved to Istanbul for a bachelor\u2019s in civil engineering. I moved to the US for my graduate studies in 2005, and since then, I have been working on advanced technologies and materials that can ensure rapid recovery and reoccupation of buildings after a strong earthquake<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although we\u2019ve seen the effectiveness of seismic protection technologies during past major earthquakes, these technologies have been installed in only a tiny fraction of the places where they could potentially be useful.<\/p>\n Engineers can control how structures respond to earthquakes in several ways.<\/p>\n Traditional approaches<\/a> rely on having certain components of the building, like columns or beams, absorb the earthquake\u2019s energy. However, this method can lead to damage accumulating in these structural features that may render the building uninhabitable<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earthquake-resilient systems<\/a> such as seismic isolation devices and seismic dampers minimise the seismic energy that goes into these columns or beams by either absorbing it or diverting it. As a result, the building experiences less motion and damage and is more likely to remain functional<\/a> after an earthquake.<\/p>\n Seismic isolation systems<\/a> prevent seismic energy from entering buildings in the first place by using devices made from rubber or steel plates coated with a friction-generating material that slide over one another to minimise an earthquake\u2019s impact. These isolation devices are installed between the building\u2019s foundation and the building itself. Alternatively, seismic dampers, installed in each story of a building, absorb earthquake energy the way shock absorbers work in a car and convert it into heat energy to minimise damage<\/a>.<\/p>\n The left shows a building without seismic isolation, while the right image shows a building with a seismic isolation system which minimises how much damage the building sustains during an earthquake. The red lines denote how much motion the building could experience during an earthquake. Ozbulut Lab, CC BY-ND<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Both seismic isolation systems and seismic dampers can help a building achieve \u201cfunctional recovery<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a performance objective whereby buildings are constructed to prevent damage and enable reoccupancy. Designing such buildings will not only save people and buildings but also keep the earthquakes from collapsing communities and economies.<\/p>\nEarthquake-resilient building technology<\/h2>\n
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