On 8/24/2011 7:18 PM, Sean Donelan wrote:
On Wed, 24 Aug 2011, Leigh Porter wrote:
Indeed, we are not going to be building earthquake proof buildings in
London for example.
Of course there is no such thing as earthquake proof. The Earth is
still a single point of failure :-)
Essential facilty design usally takes the "standard" design
probabilities for various hazards (heat, cold, wind, rain, earthquake,
etc) and multiplies it by a larger safety factor. It doesn't mean
designing for
the most extreme situation possible anywhere. You've got to rely on the
geologists and structual engineers to know their stuff.
In any case, its still just a probability. No matter how small the
probability, any facility can still have a failure. Have a backup plan
somewhere else with a different set of hazards.
Many years ago I was taught that "earthquake proof" means the building
doesn't kill the occupants and not that the structure survives
unscathed.. As examples, they used a hospital that was damaged in the
magnitude 6.6 Sylmar quake of 1971 The building was basically destroyed
but only four people were killed.
