Abstract
In view of the world housing shortage, and the economic and technological barriers which hamper efforts to alleviate it, the development of traditional techniques of earth construction may be seen as desirable. Certainly earth buildings may be constructed extremely cheaply using simple skills and, provide dwellings which are comfortable and easily modified to suit changing family needs. There are however, many instances where the seismic collapse of earth buildings has caused high death tolls, and building codes generally discourage this type of construction in seismic areas.
Investigation of earthquake damage to earth buildings has shown that their vulnerability may be significantly reduced by incorporating timber or concrete reinforcing elements, and by attention to building layout and detailing.
This paper discusses the results of this research and looks at the approach being taken by engineers in New Zealand to the preparation of a code of practice for earth construction.
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Christie, J. (1996). Reducing the Seismic Vulnerability of Earth Buildings. In: El-Sabh, M.I., Venkatesh, S., Denis, H., Murty, T.S. (eds) Land-Based and Marine Hazards. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0273-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0273-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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