OPTIONS FOR EARTHQUAKE-RESISTANT DESIGN

Design Decisions Have Measurable Consequences

Consequences Under Major Earthquake

Moderate EQ Major EQ Extreme EQ

20% chance 10% chance 2% chance Casualty Risks Chance of Expected Building Initial Building Repair Cost Carbon Impacts
in 50 years in 50 years in 50 years
Post-EQ Placard Downtime Cost of Repairs
Protective System

days
Isolation

Protective
New Buildings

System

days to weeks
Elastic

Enhanced
Code*

weeks to months
Strong

Basic Code

months to a year
Stiff

Basic Retrofit**
Older Buildings

Soft
a year or more

Unretrofitted

Earthquake damage varies depending on the level of shaking experienced and charac- New code-compliant build- Design choices affect the Design choices affect the More resilient buildings typically cost Building materials require
teristics of the building’s structure and other systems. Design choices affect the amount and ings have very low risks of odds of a green tag (no amount of time required be- slightly more upfront, but result in energy to produce. The
types of likely damage. casualties in the US. Some restrictions), yellow tag (re- fore a building can be occu- lower post-earthquake repair costs amount and types of repairs
* Includes Risk Category IV and other buildings with enhanced seismic resistance features. older buildings have high stricted entry), or red tag pied after an earthquake. and consequences. required affect carbon re-
** Some retrofitted buildings can experience much less damage. safety risks. (unsafe, no entry). leases and energy usage.