Earthquake risk in Himalayas and construction quality

kmalik

A thread on IM I've followed silently is the one pertaining to acquiring retiring in Himalayas for 5 laks. This has been of interest as one of our retirement options is precisely that, except for the budget. As my parents are residents of Uttaranchal, I might even have a leg up in terms of acquiring land there.

However, one thing that concerns me is that the seismic risk in these parts is not insubstantial. Obviously, one can either cope with that or stay away. However, what interests me is whether the construction methods/standards are being improved in view of the devastation that took place in the recent Kashmir earthquakes. It is undeniable that the number of casualties was a function of the dubious construction methods used.

From what I know, the answer is probably no. My own parents place is a death trap in an earthquake, and it is not particularly so. What I am interested in is whether this is something people electing to move there think of? And, if one were concerned - and could afford a premium - are there construction options available that mitigate / manage the risk down.

capt_mahajan

At the moment, I don't see any attempt to seriously address this in Uttaranchal. On my last trip there I was amazed to see two/three storied construction in areas which even to my untrained mind seemed susceptible to a simple landslide, leave alone an earthquake. (concrete construction supported ONLY on two stilts right at the edge of a drop being one example.. the stilts were actually below the drop, anchored on a twenty square foot of outcrop!)

There will be builders claiming earthquake proof construction, though. Beware of those.. a recent Gujarat litigation highlighted that construction can only be earthquake resistant, not earthquake proof.

My sense is that you will need an good architect from Delhi to address this. I also suspect using lightweight and local material is the way to go.

Nick-H

It's a long way away, and much less risk, but the guy we bought our house off very proudly insisted that he had built it as earthquake resistant.

I'm not sure if it is true, as I read somewhere that the foundations have to go down to rock, and I don't think ours do ...but it shows that people in India do consider such things.

Building your own place gives you the opportunity to do the best you can. I don't know how 'expensive' it is --- or if it is mostly a case of building differently.

A topic to start researching as soon as you can --- at least so you can be aware of whether the local architects/engineers are talking sense or not when you come to build.

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Digital Drifter

& FYI, IIT madras has a few plans of building earthquake resistant houses in the indian context. These should be publicly available or please get in touch with IIT civil Dept. I'm pretty sure, some architect plans will be available.

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en...ilding&spell=1

These are some of the links I found.

You could try to find out whether they have built some software which accepts the house plan in software and then model it for earthquake resistance. that would be a good thing.

If I'm not wrong, places like Japan, insist that houses that are to be built must at least withstand 6 on the richter scale or something. So if you know any japanese software that models that, that should help too.

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capt_mahajan

DD, good point about Japan. It isn't just a marketing exercise there.

praks

I was on a climbing expedition in Uttaranchal when the 1991 earthquake struck the area. The first thing I noticed was that houses made with local material, i.e. slate slabs, had collapsed killing the occupants instantly whereas houses made with cement concrete were still standing. Precisely a year later, I was in the area again and while having dinner in a restaurant in Uttarkashi, there were severe tremors. The restaurant, even while bearing cracks in its walls from the previous year's earthquake, shook but withstood the tremors and we continued with our dinner, although a bit nervously. So, it appears that cement concrete on a good, solid foundation would be better than local material in such circumstances.

kmalik

Thank you all for the comments. It seems like one needs to take responsibility for managing this concern on oneself. About what I'd expected but sad as well, as one would like to see people at large protected better (and not just oneself).

When time comes, I can easily educate myself on the principles involved - and a lot of learning has taken place in this areas at CalTech etc. as well. I also know IIT/Roorkee used to have a very strong Earthquake Engineering department (at one point ranked #3 in the world) - so there are closer resources.

Thanks again.

crvlvr

After living through the 1994 Northridge Quake I realized that no building is safe regardless of what the claims are. Earthquakes can be too powerful. For example, earthquake resistant buildings are designed with some flex. But, even this is of no use if the ground moves vertically.

capt_mahajan

Thanks for the correction, praks.

I have also seen one or two prefabricated houses (single floor construction) in parts of Uttarnachal. They seem to be made of some synthetic material.. a caretaker told me they are fabricated at Faridabad near Delhi. I wonder how good they are against earthquakes; though the material is light, they have no dug foundation.

kmalik

crvlvr - Thanks. While I did not experience what you surely have, I understand that hardly any construction (with finite budget) is earthquake proof. If the earthquake were powerful enough or other adverse factors were come into play, all bets are off. However, I doubt that's a justification for building unreinforced brick houses in an area with significant seismic risk - as has been going on. I'd rather take a good stab at managing down and perhaps sufficiently mitigating a known risk than worry about the unavailability of a silver bullet that eliminates the risk altogether. The alternative is what happened in the Kashmir region not that long ago...

rajnag

I actually did a bit of reasearch inspired by the b lacs thread. I am still interested but presently my wallet is not impressed by any of it.
I researched about landslides and quake issues and found this site called boloji.com that had articles by a seismologist.
I contacted him and this is what he has to say about it.
----------------------
Earthquakes and landslides are part and parcel of the mountain eco
system. In case u stay there u have got to take a calculated risk. Its not tht everyone there perishes. Now having retired from Geological Survey Of India am mostly away from my earlier hunting grounds. More occupied with journalism than actual studies.
But wat I suggest is tht u but a piece of land which is on a fat
ground away from the mountain slop to avoid landslide debris. While constructing a house u must take hlp of a proper engineer or architect to suggest an earthquake proof house. This costs 25% extra. I have no idea right now who wud be the best person to help u there locally. But
am sure with so much activity going up there must be such people.
Central Building Research Institute at Roorkee give such advice.

Rcc construction and usage of wood embedded in the the walls seems to give enough vibration dampening to be deemed resistant to quakes.

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My accumulated links
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/22property.htm
http://www.boloji.com/writers/vijayjoshi.htm
http://www.boloji.com/environment/61.htm
http://www.infinityfoundation.com/ma...graw_quake.htm
http://practicalaction.org/?id=earth...tant_housi ng
http://www.worldbook.com/features/ea...cingdamage.htm
http://architectureforhumanity.org/p...nformation.htm
http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/worl...dones ia.aspx
http://unjobs.org/archive/7822267562...9 41900900069
http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20010212/out.shtml

Enjoy !

vir

Thanks Rajnag

ranjan154

I would take a risk anytime for the beautiful himalayas, as far earthqaukes are concerned.. even Delhi is in high alert zone.. so where do we go.. what should we plan

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crvlvr

What does "high alert" mean? Really, no one can predict when the next EQ will strike. Geologists don't even know where all the fault lines are.

capt_mahajan

High alert is a phrase used to pretend that everything is under control and contingency plans are in effect.

In reality, it reminds me of a 'code orange' security alert we received on a US owned ship. (The actual message was titled.. President Bush Declares Code Orange) We were suitably impressed, but that was about it.