- Author
-
Todd, D. R.
|
Chung, R. M.
- Title
- Performance of Multi-Unit Residential Buildings During the 17 January 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
PWRI No. 3387; Technical Memorandom,
- Book or Conf
- U.S./Japan Natural Resources Development Program (UJNR). Wind and Seismic Effects. Joint Meeting of the U.S./Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects, 27th. May 16-19, 1995,
Tsukuba, Japan,
647-656 p.,
1995
- Keywords
-
building technology
|
earthquakes
|
damage
|
multifamily housing
|
residential buildings
- Identifiers
- Northridge earthquake, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, Monday, January 17, 1994
- Abstract
- The January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake (surface-wave magnitude 6.8) was centered under the densely populated San Fernando Valley northeast of Los Angeles, California. At the request of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted field observations of multi-family residences three stories or more in height in the affected area for the pruposes of identifying common damage states in residential construction. Sixty-nine HUD-affiliated sites, totalling 464 buildings and over 10,000 living units, were visually examined from the exterior and interior. By collecting information primarily on damaged structures, it was possible to identify typical types and degrees of damage to residential buildings. Only a few HUD-affiliated buildings were severely damaged. By and large the damage observed was minor and cosmetic, consisting largely of cracks to interior and exterior wall surfaces. Nevertheless, this type of damage is costly to repair.