Earthquakes Engineering Essays
EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING IN AUSTRALIA BEFORE MECKERING AND AFTER NEWCASTLE by Charles Bubb BE, DIC (Eng. Seis.), FIEAust, CPEng
SUMMARY Earthquake Engineering in Australia, as elsewhere, has been formulated in
the aftermath of damaging earthquakes. The first Australian Code AS2121-1979 was written and published after the 1968 Meckering WA earthquake. The second AS1170.4 1993 was published after the 1989 Newcastle NSW earthquake. Good quality Building Codes are a necessary basis for sound earthquake resistant designs. Both implementation and enforcement of the codes and sound robust construction in the field are essential for the protection of life and infrastructure. Also essential is the preservation and upgrading of the earthquake database. A study to assist the safer operation of emergency services immediately following damaging earthquakes is proposed.
1.
INTRODUCTION
A learned doctor once said " For each man is ill in his own way". So it is with earthquakes. Each new earthquake shakes the ground in its own way, and each type of ground responds differently and every structure reacts differently. I also believe that each society formulates its own reaction to earthquakes and the threat of earthquakes. Here in Australia we have responded in our own way and I want to discuss the various formative events which happened to us in the past and then where we are now and what is yet to come. But when we talk about the past let us always remember this wise counsel:“The past is another country; they do things differently there.” L P Hartley
My own education as an engineer began here in the West. Natural disasters to us in the middle of this century meant flood, fire, drought and above all Cyclones. We all knew about those, and as structural engineers especially cyclones, but I do not recall anyone then mentioning earthquakes in the engineering or design context for Australia. This is perhaps a little surprising because in the late 19th and early part of
SUMMARY Earthquake Engineering in Australia, as elsewhere, has been formulated in
the aftermath of damaging earthquakes. The first Australian Code AS2121-1979 was written and published after the 1968 Meckering WA earthquake. The second AS1170.4 1993 was published after the 1989 Newcastle NSW earthquake. Good quality Building Codes are a necessary basis for sound earthquake resistant designs. Both implementation and enforcement of the codes and sound robust construction in the field are essential for the protection of life and infrastructure. Also essential is the preservation and upgrading of the earthquake database. A study to assist the safer operation of emergency services immediately following damaging earthquakes is proposed.
1.
INTRODUCTION
A learned doctor once said " For each man is ill in his own way". So it is with earthquakes. Each new earthquake shakes the ground in its own way, and each type of ground responds differently and every structure reacts differently. I also believe that each society formulates its own reaction to earthquakes and the threat of earthquakes. Here in Australia we have responded in our own way and I want to discuss the various formative events which happened to us in the past and then where we are now and what is yet to come. But when we talk about the past let us always remember this wise counsel:“The past is another country; they do things differently there.” L P Hartley
My own education as an engineer began here in the West. Natural disasters to us in the middle of this century meant flood, fire, drought and above all Cyclones. We all knew about those, and as structural engineers especially cyclones, but I do not recall anyone then mentioning earthquakes in the engineering or design context for Australia. This is perhaps a little surprising because in the late 19th and early part of
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