Abstract
AbstractRecent earthquakes around the world are reminders of the destructiveness of earthquakes and the effect they exact on lives and property. In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake resulted in significant damage and fatalities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Multiunit woodframe buildings suffered severe damage as a result of moderate to strong ground motions. Just 5 years later in southern California, the Northridge earthquake caused even more extensive damage to soft-story woodframe buildings. These multifamily residential buildings have upper stories with dense walls but have a large amount of openings for automobile parking at ground level, making them soft (and weak) story buildings. These buildings pose very significant safety risks to tenants, financial risks to owners, and recovery risks to all levels of government. They have been recognized as a disaster preparedness problem, and mitigation efforts are underway in San Francisco with other California cities beginning to follow. In May 2009, FEMA and...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
