Low-Cost Earthquake Solutions for Nonengineered Residential Construction in Developing Regions

Low-rise concrete and masonry structures can provide excellent seismic resistance when they are designed by an engineer, are made of quality materials, and are built by well-trained workers in conformance with building codes. Unfortunately, this is not the way many of the structures are being built in developing regions. Property owners themselves are building low-rise nonengineered structures, paying little attention to building codes or seismic resistance. Adding to the problem, when building with concrete and masonry construction, it is possible to have relatively long spans, large openings, and irregular shapes, all of which impact their earthquake performance. These nonengineered buildings are deceptive because they seem safe, they perform well under gravity loads, and they do not sag or lean. In this study, several typical concrete and masonry low-rise residential buildings were modeled and subjected to seismic loads. These models were then manipulated to determine which low-cost changes will have the greatest effect on earthquake performance. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.