Achieving earthquake-safe buildings – an educational initiative for developing nations

Abstract

Building departments in developing nations have a poor track record of achieving earthquake-safe new buildings. Many buildings, within their jurisdictions are not expected to perform well in medium- to high-intensity earthquake shaking. To investigate this issue, a survey of construction industry stakeholders in a large Indonesian city revealed how the present undesirable situation can be improved. The key finding was that a lack of knowledge of earthquake design and construction good practice, both in building departments and among the general public, is a significant barrier to achieving earthquake-safe construction. This paper describes the author’s response to the identified need for educational material. It explains how, in collaboration with The World Housing Encyclopedia, an international NGO, 25 short articles outlining principles for achieving earthquake-safe buildings have been written, illustrated and published online. The intent of the articles, written for an Indonesian city, is that they also function as templates for other developing nations. After some limited contextualization and translation, the articles will be ready for in-country dissemination. After listing the articles, the paper explains how they are written not for technically competent readers, but rather for the general public. Examples of simple diagrams that convey earthquake-engineering principles are provided, and the strategy and the progress of trying to achieve widespread international dissemination of the articles is outlined.