Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with protecting society, the natural and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels. Traditionally, it has been narrowly defined as the study of the behavior of structures and geo-structures subject to seismic loading, thus considered as a subset of both structural and geotechnical engineering. However, the tremendous costs experienced in recent earthquakes have led to an expansion of its scope to encompass disciplines from the wider field of civil engineering and from the social sciences, especially sociology, political sciences, economics and finance.
The main objectives of earthquake engineering are:
- Foresee the potential consequences of strong earthquakes on urban areas and civil infrastructure.
- Design, construct and maintain structures to perform at earthquake exposure up to the expectations and in compliance with building codes.
A properly engineered structure does not necessarily have to be extremely strong or expensive. It has to be properly designed to withstand the seismic effects while sustaining an acceptable level of damage.
Read more about Earthquake Engineering: Seismic Loading, Seismic Performance, Research For Earthquake Engineering, Seismic Vibration Control, Seismic Design, Earthquake-Resistant Construction, Prediction of Earthquake Losses
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