What type of house is better in an earthquake zone?

Question

Concrete block, steel framed, or wood framed type houses?

Answer 1

Well, I was going to say bricks, but I'd have to go for concrete block. The house will hold much better, and it's much sturdier. And besides which, in the recent earthquake in Taiwan, most of the houses that fell were either wooden ones or steel-framed.
I think steel-framed and wooden houses fall apart more easily, because they're only put together with a few nails and bolts, whereas a concrete house is joined all together.

Answer 2

Wood-frame houses are the safest in an earthquake zone. Residences are not usually made of reinforced concrete or steel, but may be made of brick or cinder block. The latter must be reinforced to be safe. Unreinforced masonry is the most dangerous. The greatest risk in wood-frame houses is the house coming loose from the foundation. While this is not hazardous to the occupants, it is a disaster for the structure, and it must be replaced. The biggest hazard for occupants is falling books and furniture. Fire as a result of broken gas line is also a hazard.

Answer 3

I'm in the San Francisco area, 5 miles as the crow flies from the ocean, and my house is built on bedrock. Good to know there's another Big One coming. We're always ready to rock n' roll in these parts. I don't have a clue what will happen to you. It all depends on where the quake strikes and what kind of quake it is. Gravel deposits can liquefy, can't they? Well, they can become saturated, anyway. You'd not catch me living on a gravel deposit down here. No one would build a house on a gravel deposit. That's just craziness. Don't freak about the giant quake, darlin'. They don't come very often. Really. I've lived here all my life and only been in a couple really large quakes--and never been hurt. Truly, tornadoes and hurricanes are MUCH scarier and come MUCH more often then killer quakes. Oh and i don't think Indonesia had any highrises that were in the tsunami zone. Nah. It hit low-rise touristy areas and the small towns and villages where ordinary Indonesians lived.

Answer 4

Verifying the past records alone can help you to certain extend. Because you should know the geographical condition, the distance from fault line, what were the frequencies experienced in previous cases are all required. The low frequency earthquakes will destroy tall buildings and high frequency earthquakes will not damage high rise building but it will destroy low rise building and bridges. The frequency of earthquakes will be between 0.5 to 15 Hz. If the natural frequency of the buildings matches the earthquake frequency the damage will be more. Once it happened in USA I think all the buildings between floors heights 10 stories to 14 were destroyed leaving other buildings unaffected. Consult your Geological department in your area for proper guidance. Please also visit my slide show at URL to have proper knowledge on earthquakes and Tsunami. I am the man who issued the warning 2 hours before Tsunami struck our Indian coast. It may take few more decades to investigate the facts of my claims. The URL is
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/quake Ctrl + click will open

Answer 5

None of the above. Reinforced poured concrete with a foundation almost to hell. and enough rebar to build the Brooklyn bridge. Done all the time in Greece. For America, I would say concrete block ONLY if rebar is used, the cores filled with concrete and not left hollow, and steel door and window lintils used to support that area.

Answer 6

Wooden House

Answer 7

Made up of a material which can tolerate good amount of compression, tension and shear, without compromising any of them. In addition, it should be light enough to hurt you the least, if it collapses. I think this makes wood (of some special trees) a likely choice.

Answer 8

wood framed type houses

Answer 9

steel

Answer 10

cardboard. wont hurt as much when it falls on top of you.