killed by man-made structures. Why is it that New York City's buildings and other structures have not been built to withstand large earthquakes?
2006-12-11 07:18:40 · 3 answers · asked by Kevin G 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
New York has allot of buildings that were built a long time ago, before they even new there was a fault in the region.
2006-12-11 07:29:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Retrofitting buildings for "large quakes" is very expensive. and the last known larger quake was a 5.0 in 1737. That one knocked down chimneys. But there is small quakes under 3 but the only way to fill that is on a water-bed.
I'm sure when there is and earthquake over 5,(MOST buildings in the US will start to crack to no damage at all) there will be more retrofittings. We do that with fires (springlers) to earthquakes.
Now if you want somthing to worry, try a Hurricane, that hapened in 1938.
2006-12-11 07:45:34 · answer #2 · answered by rob u 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Building codes have changed throught the years, as have materials and methods. Older buildings are much more likely to be structually damaged. Earth quakes have not been an historical problem in the New York City area and building codes have reflected this.
2006-12-11 07:32:58 · answer #3 · answered by Answergirl 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋