A simulated 6.7-magnitude earthquake was set off in a New York laboratory on Tuesday to test how a house would stand up to the shaking.
The test was carried out at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York. A three-bedroom house, complete with plates on the kitchen table and a car in the garage, was built on top of a 鈥渟hake table鈥� and rigged with hundreds of sensors before being subjected to the violent wobble test.
The simulated quake, which lasted just a few seconds, sent furniture and televisions flying around. It caused surprisingly little damage to structure and, most unexpectedly, all the windows remained intact.
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The test was co-ordinated by researchers from five different US universities as part of a four-year research project aimed at helping architects design houses for earthquake-prone areas.
鈥淭his test is monumental in terms of data gathering. We have a wealth of data,鈥� says lead investigator Andre Filiatrault.
New designs
鈥淧erhaps this knowledge now can trickle down to better provisions, requirements and building codes,鈥� Filiatrault adds, 鈥渟o that we can save more lives.鈥�
The simulation was the largest ever conducted on a wooden building, the researchers say. More than 250 sensors were used to gather detailed information from each part of the house and a dozen video cameras 鈥� eight inside and four outside 鈥� also recorded the shaking.
John van de Lindt, principal investigator at Colorado State University, says the results of the test will 鈥減robably change the way we model wood-frame structures鈥�.
The simulated quake was designed to replicate the Northridge quake that struck Los Angeles, California, in 1994, causing extensive damage to wooden-built homes in particular. The disaster left more than 50 people dead and thousands more homeless, and caused more than $40 billion-worth of damage.
Another research project will test a six-story wooden-frame building on the world鈥檚 largest shake table in Miki, in Hyogo prefecture, Japan, early in 2009. The Japanese facility was developed following the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.
