E – 2099 Understanding of the Theories and Practices of Earthquake-Resistant Design of Structures

The objective of this course is to assist a licensed design professional, practicing structural engineers, forensic structural engineers, consulting engineers, building officials, educators, students and/or a licensed general contractor to deeply know, and understand the theories and practices of earthquake-resistant design of structures. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient number of references dealing with this topic, so the course was designed to be an important guide for the structural engineers working in this field.

When addressing earthquakes, we must acknowledge the significant likelihood of failures occurring in the near future. Otherwise, even the world’s vast resources would fall short of meeting our needs, and even the simplest structures would need to be built like fortresses. Additionally, we must confront large-scale uncertainty. Our challenge is to design engineering systems—about whose critical properties we know very little—to withstand future earthquakes and tidal waves, the characteristics of which we understand even less. In a sense, earthquake engineering is akin to a caricature. The effects of earthquakes on structures systematically expose flaws in design and construction, revealing even the smallest mistakes.