Building Safer Structures 3

USGS scientists have installed instruments in a variety of structures across the United States to monitor their behavior during earthquakes. Examples shown include a dam, a bridge supporting a large aqueduct, a highway overpass, and a Veterans hospital.

Today there are instruments installed in hospitals, bridges, dams, aqueducts, and other structures throughout the earthquake-prone areas of the United States, including Illinois, South Carolina, New York, Tennessee, Idaho, California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Both the California Division of Mines and Geology (CDMG) and the USGS operate instruments in California. The USGS also operates instruments in the other seismically active regions of the nation.

The majority of deaths and injuries from earthquakes are caused by the damage or collapse of buildings and other structures. These losses can be reduced through documenting and understanding how structures respond to earthquakes. Gaining such knowledge requires a long-term commitment because large devastating earthquakes occur at irregular and often long intervals. Recording instruments must be in place and waiting, ready to capture the response to the next temblor whenever it occurs. The new information acquired by these instruments can then be used to better design earthquake-resistant structures. In this way, earth scientists and engineers help reduce loss of life and property in future earthquakes.

Mehmet Celebi, Robert A. Page, and Linda Seekins
COOPERATING AGENCIES, COMPANIES, AND INSTITUTIONSCalifornia Department of TransportationCalifornia Division of Mines and GeologyCity of Los AngelesGeneral Services AdministrationMetropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaOregon Department of HighwaysU.S. Army Corps of EngineersU.S. Department of EnergyU.S. Department of Veterans AffairsWashington Department of HighwaysWashington Department of Natural ResourcesPrivate building owners
For more information contact:Earthquake Information Hotline (415) 329-4085U.S. Geological Survey, MS 977345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025USGS Menlo Park Earthquakes Home Page
U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet-167-95 1995