Earthquake engineering in China

Abstract

The development of earthquake engineering in China is described into three stages. The initial stage in 1950’s – 1960’s was marked with the initiation of this branch of science from its creation in the first national 12-year plan of science and technology by specifying earthquake engineering as a branch item and IEM was one participant. The first earthquake zonation map and the first seismic design code were soon completed and used in engineering design. Site effect on structural design and site selection were seriously studied. The second stage marked with the occurrence of quite a few strong earthquakes in China, from which many lessons were learned and corresponding considerations were specified in our design codes and followed in construction practice. The third stage is a stage of disaster management, which is marked by a series of government documentations, leading by a national law of the People’s Republic of China on the protecting against and mitigating earthquake disasters adopted at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China in 1997, and then followed by some provincial and municipal laws to force the actions outlined in the national law. It may be expected that our society will be much more safer to resist the attack of future strong earthquakes with less losses. Lastly, possible future developments are also discussed.