I keep seeing how these structures...let's talk houses here, were shaking back and forth. How does that not mess with several things on the house? Window seals, electronic connections, foundation, etc.? Hell, I saw pools moving back and forth. No leaks?? I know they build the commercial structures to sort of "move" with the quakes, but what about houses?

You don't need a quake to move a house. I live in Denver burbs and our expansive soils resulted in my neighbor's foundation heaving 6". Cracking drywall, doors and windows not opening or closing.

Almost all the houses in Ridgecrest are finished with stucco. I lived there for 17 years. The wooden frames go back and forth. Sometimes the windows shatter but most have cracks around them from many quakes over the years. It is hard to find a home without lots of cracks in the stucco. It is not really cost effective to repair. It would take a massive earthquake, much worse than this week's, to move a house off its foundation. The oldest home in the valley was built in the 1940s after the Navy Base opened (War Powers Act after the Pearl Harbor attack.) And the ones that were built back then were to pretty high standards. Very few buildings more than two stories. Actually not many two story homes. Older buildings on the base are extremely stout. Some of the schools have walls made of concrete 2-3 feet thick; almost like bunkers.

Interesting. I've been to the West coast a few times, but usually beach etc. Never paid much attention to the residences. I was thinking, if it was like my house (brick), it could be a problem.

62strat said:

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You don't need a quake to move a house. I live in Denver burbs and our expansive soils resulted in my neighbor's foundation heaving 6". Cracking drywall, doors and windows not opening or closing.

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...not to mention waste fluid disposal from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Effectively injected into the fault and lubricating it.

Whens lunch said:

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62strat said:

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You don't need a quake to move a house. I live in Denver burbs and our expansive soils resulted in my neighbor's foundation heaving 6". Cracking drywall, doors and windows not opening or closing.

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...not to mention waste fluid disposal from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Effectively injected into the fault and lubricating it.

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ehh.. it's mostly just expansive souls. Bentonite. I'm in commercial construction and you'd be amazed at the swell of our dirt when you simply add water. We dig 10-15' holes under future buildings and manually swell it, then put a slab on that before going vertical. I'm down a warehouse now that has a 22' overexcavation. 100ksf slab. Half of it going back in is nothing but moisture treated, the other half is imported granular full.

Went to a science museum in SF when I visited a few years ago. They have models and displays about homes and how they build for earthquakes.

Really interesting to see how they do it and what they do to help out. I know there are youtube videos on it if you search.

~egon

My uncle built his house with framing wrapped in plywood. It's on a hill in Studio City. Last quake they had shook the hell out of it, but shook the house as a whole. Only damage was cabinet contents that ended up on the floor.

Isn't that called sheathing and how most homes are built?

UnderoosAg said:

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My uncle built his house with framing wrapped in plywood. It's on a hill in Studio City. Last quake they had shook the hell out of it, but shook the house as a whole. Only damage was cabinet contents that ended up on the floor.

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He must have been the architect for lennar homes when they built my neighborhood, because every house is built just like that.

In addition to OSB sheathing wrapping the house as you'd normally see, they created shear walls reinforced with plywood.

UnderoosAg said:

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In addition to OSB sheathing wrapping the house as you'd normally see, they created shear walls reinforced with plywood.

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A handful of my interior walls had plywood on the framing.. is that what you mean?

Like this;




Those are both interior walls that are covered in plywood. They are concentrated around the center of the house/stairwell