Can a building be made to withstand a 9.0 earthquake?

Question

I heard skyscrapers can, what about houses or a bridge?

Answer 1

Actually, it's easier for a house to survive than a skyscraper.  However, most housing codes are not configured for that large an earthquake.  That's because it becomes exponentially more expensive the more earthquake-resistant a structure becomes.

Most bridges require foundations that go down to bedrock, but movement in the bedrock can occur in a sufficiently large quake fault straddled by a bridge, in which case, there's little one can do to protect against a quake in that fault.

Answer 2

Anything is possible. I'm not sure yet, but perhaps some foundation with poles deep inside the ground? Or perhaps have a rubber building lol.

They do say that a dome structure is good. http://architecture.about.com/b/2008/05/...

Another interesting article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1922...

"The rope-like steel bands, which are encased in plastic, are supposed to prevent a building frame from buckling during an earthquake by allowing the beams and columns to separate, rock and twist independently of one another.

The system also uses friction plates that help dissipate the quake's energy. After the tremors subside, the steel bands pull the beams and columns back to their original positions.

The system has shown promise in testing. In a hangar-sized lab just south of Bethlehem,"

Apparently, there's a disciple called "Earthquake Engineering"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_...

We're getting there, I say.

Answer 3

Yes -- with some difficulty.  With proper design, a structure can withstand a quake of almost any magnitude.  Frank Llloyd Wright did a particularly good design for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo; an earthquake about 1922 flattened almost the entire city -- but the hotel survived with minimal damage.