Dave, We're all grateful the death toll isn't an order of magnitude higher. Seeing where you were, you have to think that white facade was re-enforced. San Francisco has many such old facades, but survives the big quakes. Ordinances after the 1906 quake required their decorative stone work be tied off. I don't know the specifics as I'm not a trained architect, but construction in California quake zones seems to tie things together - literally. They don't depend strictly on gravity to hold buildings together. Walls are metal strapped to floors and ceilings and support columns. I suppose your new construction is much the same. You should take heart from San Francisco's experience. The 1906 quake and subsequent fire did not stop the city's growth. The 1989 quake was devastating, but much more survivable. I hope Christchurch takes a similar path. Regards, Bob S.
On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 2:45 AM, David Mann <d...@multisport.net.nz> wrote: > On Feb 26, 2011, at 6:12 PM, Bob Sullivan wrote: > >> And you may need better earthquake resistant construction. > > We do have excellent earthquake resistant construction, our country has some > of the best seismic engineering in the world. Unfortunately it's a fairly > modern development, more modern than many of the buildings in our central > business district. > > To be honest I've thought for a long time (years) that those old masonry > buildings should either be greatly reinforced or torn down, for precisely > this reason. > >> All the parapets, porches, and facades falling to the street are not >> acceptable. > > I don't think anyone would disagree with that. As far as I know there were > few total collapses which I think is largely due to rows of buildings holding > each other steady. If more buildings had collapsed inwards then deaths would > be well in the thousands so I'm thankful that the damage was limited. > > I just got curious and had a look at where I was on Google Street View. > Here's a screen shot... > > http://www.multi.net.nz/feb-22-aftershock/street-view.jpg > > That is the view looking south down Manchester St and you can see the > intersection of Cashel St. > > I was on the right-hand footpath, about level with the front of that parked > car. Look at the facade above, it's an old brick building. How the hell > that didn't collapse I don't know but I wouldn't be here if it had. I ran > halfway across the road after making sure it was safe to do so, but was that > far enough? Because I was standing up I didn't realise the quake was as big > as it was until I saw stuff falling down a block away. I ended up in the > middle of that intersection keeping a damn good eye on the surrounding > buildings. > > This is why I'm slightly uncomfortable about thinking back because I > inevitably ask "what if". And I don't need to distract myself with those > thoughts. > > BTW if you were to turn right at that intersection, the Hotel Grand > Chancellor is right next door to the white building I was under. So I'm glad > that also remained standing. > >> I'm still hoping for a miracle at the CTV building. > > We all are, but I think we know deep down that it's unlikely. I feel for the > Japanese rescue team who are combing through the wreckage for their > countrymen/women. > >> How can a modern 6 story building fail so completely?!! > > I don't know, we're all asking that same question. There must have been some > hidden damage after September, or perhaps the foundations were undermined by > liquefaction. Once we've made it through the terrible tragedy I am sure > there will be investigations. Given the scale of damage I am just thankful > the death toll isn't an order of magnitude higher. > > Cheers, > Dave > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
