Texan Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 NEW DELHI: Delhi is located in seismic zone 4, making it highly vulnerable to earthquakes. However, the city is not remotely prepared to deal with them. If a severe earthquake hits the capital, 80% of its buildings won't be able to withstand it, say experts. "People have a short memory of disaster if they were not involved in it directly. There have been schemes to retrofit existing buildings to be able to withstand an earthquake but no action has been taken," said professor Mahesh Tandon, president of Indian Association of Structural Engineers. Delhi's focus, he pointed out, has so far been on aesthetics, not on structural safety. "The previous governments were just not serious about it. We are worried about how buildings look but not how safe they are. A structural engineer is responsible for that, not the architect. Delhi's revised building bylaws are to be notified shortly but these have been made by architects, not structural engineers." The city attempted retrofitting old buildings some years ago but the 2010 Commonwealth Games saw officials and resources diverted to more pressing work. A 2008 paper—'Building capacity in Delhi, India to reduce earthquake risk from existing buildings' by J E Rodgers, L T Tobin and H Kumar—said Delhi Disaster Management Authority, GeoHazards International, USAID and other partners were trying to build the capacity of PWD to assess and retrofit important buildings. The buildings selected as part of this project were Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Police Headquarters, Ludlow Castle School, a ward block and associated structures at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital and several buildings at the divisional commissioner's office complex at 5, Sham Nath Marg. Government sources said work was never completed. According to the paper, "The soft, deep alluvial sediments on the east side of the Yamuna are expected to amplify the seismic waves from a Himalayan earthquake and cause damage in east Delhi. Delhi has many highly vulnerable buildings constructed of either inadequately reinforced concrete or unreinforced brick masonry. Many of the buildings in the congested neighborhoods of Old Delhi and east Delhi are highly vulnerable, multistory brick buildings with irregular configurations. It will not take a large earthquake to damage these buildings. In addition, many buildings were built illegally, with no quality control." The Supreme Court had recently ordered all buildings that are occupied by 100 people or more should have a plaque to say what type of quake category it is. But these plaques are nowhere to be seen. "Lifeline buildings like hospitals should be in a position to be occupied right after an earthquake which means no damage to them. The other category of buildings like offices which may sustain light damage but do not collapse. There are buildings that are neither engineered nor adequately designed for an earthquake. Then there are those which are engineered but not adequately designed for earthquakes. In Delhi, 80% of buildings fall in either of these two categories," said Tandon. Sources say buildings in Japan, which witnesses numerous quakes each year, are much more resilient. "This is because strict construction codes are followed there. There are BIS codes for designing and retrofitting but neither is followed. In Delhi all flyovers and now the new hospitals are being made quake-resistant but there is no quality control for private buildings, even those which claim to be quake-resistant," said a PWD official. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/80-of-Delhis-buildings-wont-stand-a-quake/articleshow/47064441.cms
BlueBee Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 Seismic Zone 4 : This zone is called the High Damage Risk Zone and covers areas liable to MSK VIII. The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.24 for Zone 4. The Indo-Gangetic basin and the capital of the country (Delhi), Jammu and Kashmir fall in Zone 4. In Maharashtra, the Faltan area (Koyananager) is also in zone no-4 MSK VIII : (Damaging) Many people find it difficult to stand, even outdoors. Furniture may be overturned. Waves may be seen on very soft ground. Older structures partially collapse or sustain considerable damage. Large cracks and fissures opening up, rockfalls.
gs Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 God forbid another such occurrence in any part of India.
Cricket_Hacker Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 Seismic Zone 4 : This zone is called the High Damage Risk Zone and covers areas liable to MSK VIII. The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.24 for Zone 4. The Indo-Gangetic basin and the capital of the country (Delhi), Jammu and Kashmir fall in Zone 4. In Maharashtra, the Faltan area (Koyananager) is also in zone no-4 MSK VIII : (Damaging) Many people find it difficult to stand, even outdoors. Furniture may be overturned. Waves may be seen on very soft ground. Older structures partially collapse or sustain considerable damage. Large cracks and fissures opening up, rockfalls. Bluebee tu to gaya Assam
Raghav_12 Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 I believe steel structures are very very resistance to Earth Quakes or any kind of shaking. Basis of that belief is elasticity that steel offers to whole structure that is made of it. Current high rises are built on pillars of steel and concrete through the total height of the building. Walls and other fixtures are not there to give any strength. It means this kind of structure make shake vigorously but almost has zero probability of collapsing. The kind of collapse we saw on a video being circulated is impossible with these kind of buildings. It is brittleness which causes structures to collapse and that's why stone and brick structures are so risky. Unfortunately almost all residential buildings in semi-urban and rural India until two decades ago were made of brick and stones and all of them are so susceptible to any kind of shaking. A minor movement from status quo and whole thing will come crashing down. In Latur quake of 93 the number of casualties was too high because most of the houses were made of stones. In general I feel safe in staying high rises apartments but I am worried about my house in hometown as part of that is built using bricks and stones (flat stones called "patiya" to make the roof).
silly_point Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 There are BIS codes for designing and retrofitting but neither is followed. In Delhi all flyovers and now the new hospitals are being made quake-resistant but there is no quality control for private buildings, even those which claim to be quake-resistant," said a PWD official. :sigh: no point talking if not followed, damn !!
BlueBee Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 We should have gone with the Wooden housing rather than Bricks/Stone/Cement one. The North Indian peoples especially, as it's most vulnerable to earthquakes, big earthquakes!
bulbul Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 We should have gone with the Wooden housing rather than Bricks/Stone/Cement one. The North Indian peoples especially' date=' as it's most vulnerable to earthquakes, big earthquakes![/quote'] Follow Japan method.
Detonator Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 We should have gone with the Wooden housing rather than Bricks/Stone/Cement one. The North Indian peoples especially' date=' as it's most vulnerable to earthquakes, big earthquakes![/quote'] would be robbbed overnight
bulbul Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8375591/Japan-earthquake-country-better-prepared-than-anyone-for-quakes-and-tsunamis.html
Sachin=GOD Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 India as a whole is grossly under prepared for a severe quake. Way too much congestion, very high population density in many areas and shoddy construction quality, especially by the new builders. A relative in Lko is living in a new multi story building (the building was constructed around 5-6 years ago) and yesterday after the earthquake the building had a big crack on the outside - and this is from a reputed developer and was made just 5-6 years ago. And these kinds of huge housing/office buildings are everywhere in India now.
AmreekanDesi Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 wtf delhi is zone 4 we are a 10,000 yr old city and i dont recall reading abt any big earthquake in delhi history
Raghav_12 Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 We should have gone with the Wooden housing rather than Bricks/Stone/Cement one. The North Indian peoples especially' date= as it's most vulnerable to earthquakes, big earthquakes! These are brittle materials and there lies the problem. A structure elastic enough to accomodate some minor shaking or movement will withstand most of the shocks. There is very little likelihood of complete collapse happening. (It had happened in case of WTC september 11 attack. But that was because heat generated through burning of fuel had caused complete melting of steel which was holding whole structure together)
swatpulla Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 I am seriously contemplating building a wooden house. I can't live with the fear of losing my family and future wife because of some stupid earth shaking.
BlueBee Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 I am seriously contemplating building a wooden house. I can't live with the fear of losing my family and future wife because of some stupid earth shaking. http://www.woodbarnindia.com/ :two_thumbs_up:
swatpulla Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 http://www.woodbarnindia.com/ :two_thumbs_up: Thanks, that was helpful. All I need to do now is set up a Donations page.. :giggle:
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