In Mexico quake, geography and building codes played important roles

An article in The Wall Street Journal about the role geography and building codes played in Tuesday’s deadly earthquake in Mexico City quotes Andreas Stavridis, assistant professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, who specializes in earthquake-resistant construction and discussed a “reverse thrust” earthquake that occurred more than 30 years ago and was 30 times more powerful than Tuesday’s quake. “What happened in Mexico in 1985 was a far different quake,” he said.

                A story on WKBW-TV about the earthquake interviews Mark Pitman, technical services manager of the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who discussed the kinds of research being conducted in the lab, and Amjad Aref, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, who explained that earthquakes as powerful as the one that hit Mexico City are difficult to ever be prepared for. "A 7.1 [magnitude] is a very strong ground shaking that will cause a lot of older buildings to collapse as we see in this Mexican earthquake," he said. "And modern buildings might also sustain some damage."

Read more:

http://www.cetusnews.com/news/In-Mexico-Quake--Geography-and-Building-Codes-Played-Important-Roles-.BygXQttesb.html

http://www.wkbw.com/news/-i-didn-t-think-i-was-going-to-make-it-out-alive-wnyer-in-mexico-city-survives-earthquake