What would hold up better in an earthquake single story wood building or a single story brick building?

Answer 1

Wood.

Wood has much more flexibility/play. There is a new type of nail on the market called "Hurriquake" which can increase strength of wood structures to winds/quakes by about 4 to 5 times.

The brick will still withstand significant earthquakes because it can still be cracked and support weight because the brick bears load in compression. For larger structures, you need metal reinforcement.

Answer 2

Brick is very brittle so if you put any force at all on it from a side to side motion like you would find in an earthquake it will fracture and collapse. Engineers call this equivalent horizontal G force. Wood structures can bend to a certain extent and are not likely to collapse in a seismic event. So the answer is a wood building would hold up better in an earthquake.

Answer 3

A wood single story structure would stand up better than a brick structure in am earthquake.
If you want the safest construction for any condition, use steel reinforced concrete.
Most of the homes on the island of Taiwan, which is subject to earthquakes and hurricanes, are reinforced concrete construction.

Answer 4

Wood, for an earthquake, brick, for a hurricane or flood. Been through all three, and seen the damage done.

Answer 5

it would help if you build the building with bricks because the bricks can support with the cement, the whole structure. but if you build with the wood the house would just fall like a stack of cards.