Earthquake this morning!

Back to the question "Are buildings in earthquake zones built
differently" the answer is YES! We have very strict building codes
here; the buildings that collapsed in Niigata were mostly over 50
years old. (Of course, any building will tip or break down if shaken
too hard-- or if there's a fault right under it!)

The building code in Tokyo went into effect in the 1970's. I'm not
sure what all is involved, but concrete structures are reinforced by
flexible steel rods running through the concrete, which are supposed
to make the building sway with the "flow" of the earthquake rather
than bending, and they sway in an S shape, direction depending on the
direction and sound frequency (Hertz) of the quake. Wooden structures
already do this, but the S-bend that the earthquake produces in some
houses (which are not tall enough to do the whole S) will collapse the
first floor. So in a two-story house, you're actually safer on the
second floor, which
is why most of our houses have bedrooms on the second floor.

Cantate

wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at Reelfoot
Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

LOL! I still can't figure it out either!
--
Britta
Purring is an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness
overflow.
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/badwilson

wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?

On Jul 21, 8:19 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Er..that part was obvious. I kept looking for some reference to
"Eagles Nest". Were
we supposed to know what that means, or did I miss something?

"Cantate" wrote in message
oups.com...
Back to the question "Are buildings in earthquake zones built
differently" the answer is YES! We have very strict building codes
here; the buildings that collapsed in Niigata were mostly over 50
years old. (Of course, any building will tip or break down if shaken
too hard-- or if there's a fault right under it!)

The building code in Tokyo went into effect in the 1970's. I'm not
sure what all is involved, but concrete structures are reinforced by
flexible steel rods running through the concrete, which are supposed
to make the building sway with the "flow" of the earthquake rather
than bending, and they sway in an S shape, direction depending on the
direction and sound frequency (Hertz) of the quake. Wooden structures
already do this, but the S-bend that the earthquake produces in some
houses (which are not tall enough to do the whole S) will collapse the
first floor. So in a two-story house, you're actually safer on the
second floor, which
is why most of our houses have bedrooms on the second floor.

Cantate

When I went to Australia for the first time, I was amazed at all the brick
buildings I saw in Sydney. There are virtually no brick buildings in
Southern California, unless they are very old. This is because of building
regulations to make buildings earthquake-safe. My Dad described the
aftermath of the Long Beach quake of 1933 this way: "The stucco buildings
had cracked plaster; the wood frame buildings had slid off their
foundations; the brick buildings were nothing but a pile of bricks."

Joy

Sherry wrote:
On Jul 21, 8:19 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Er..that part was obvious. I kept looking for some reference to
"Eagles Nest". Were
we supposed to know what that means, or did I miss something?

Birds... Eagles nest in the woods around Reelfoot

Sorry, I thought it was apparently I'm a bird watcher

On Jul 21, 9:18 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
Sherry wrote:
On Jul 21, 8:19 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Er..that part was obvious. I kept looking for some reference to
"Eagles Nest". Were
we supposed to know what that means, or did I miss something?

Birds... Eagles nest in the woods around Reelfoot

Sorry, I thought it was apparently I'm a bird watcher- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Actually, I didn't know you ever went on birdwatching excursions. I
just knew you had
a bird.

Sherry

"Cantate" wrote in message
oups.com...
Back to the question "Are buildings in earthquake zones built
differently" the answer is YES! We have very strict building codes
here; the buildings that collapsed in Niigata were mostly over 50
years old. (Of course, any building will tip or break down if shaken
too hard-- or if there's a fault right under it!)

The building code in Tokyo went into effect in the 1970's. I'm not
sure what all is involved, but concrete structures are reinforced by
flexible steel rods running through the concrete, which are supposed
to make the building sway with the "flow" of the earthquake rather
than bending, and they sway in an S shape, direction depending on the
direction and sound frequency (Hertz) of the quake. Wooden structures
already do this, but the S-bend that the earthquake produces in some
houses (which are not tall enough to do the whole S) will collapse the
first floor. So in a two-story house, you're actually safer on the
second floor, which
is why most of our houses have bedrooms on the second floor.

Cantate


When we lived in Anchorage AK in 1970, there was a new hotel built to
earthquake standards, and the bar was on the top floor.

Some loved it and some were scared spitless of it, but it swayed with every
little earth tremor. Anchorage got lots of minor quakes while we lived
there. They usually came from the same direction, south east, and they
sounded like a jet coming in for a landing, only the flight path wasn't in
that direction. You could always hear them coming before you felt them.

Jo

Sherry wrote:
On Jul 21, 9:18 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
Sherry wrote:
On Jul 21, 8:19 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Er..that part was obvious. I kept looking for some reference to
"Eagles Nest". Were
we supposed to know what that means, or did I miss something?

Birds... Eagles nest in the woods around Reelfoot

Sorry, I thought it was apparently I'm a bird watcher- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

Actually, I didn't know you ever went on birdwatching excursions. I
just knew you had
a bird.

Sherry

I own a bird (or rather, she owns me) but I have multiple bird feeders on my
patio and yes, I go on birdwatching excursions as well.

jmcquown wrote:

wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Reelfoot Lake was formed by a quake here in 1912. It's a BIG
lake. Legend has it the ground shook so hard the Mississippi
river ran backwards.

That sounds very poetic!

I wouldn't know about the quake of 1912 Eagles nest at
Reelfoot Lake.

I totally don't understand this response.

scratching head

Joyce

Um... I wasn't alive in 1912?

OK... I certainly didn't think you were alive then. But you did bring
it up, after all. Not that it matters, really. I was mostly amused. The
stuff about the eagles was baffling to me, but that's OK too.

I just thought what you said about the Mississippi running backwards
sounded cool. Sounded like the start of a Ray Bradbury story or
something - if he wrote about the South rather than the Midwest, that
is.

Joyce