Why Make Earthquake-Resistant Buildings

India is one of the most earthquake-prone zones across the globe.
In the past few years, the country has witnessed a number of seismic activities.
This includes the earthquakes at Latur (in 1993) & Bhuj (in 2001).
These incidents in the past have exposed the vulnerability of the building designs and codes that are followed in the country.
In the wake of such natural disasters, the Indian government has redesigned construction practices to make the buildings earthquake resistant.
Let’s take a look at a few facts about the use of TMT bars for earthquake resistant buildings:

1.    The Bureau of Indian Statistics has enlisted construction and design criteria of buildings on the basis of different earthquake-prone zones in the country.
During any construction project, the structural engineers are responsible for ensuring that the standards laid down by BIS are followed.
2.    Following the Latur earthquake in 1993, the use of TMT bars has become mandatory in all important construction projects in India; especially in the moderate to high-risk seismic zones III, IV, and V.
TMT bars must comply with the standards mentioned in IS1786-2008.
3.    Earthquake-resistant buildings in India are designed in a manner that helps prevent a total collapse, thus saving numerous lives.
A building that has been constructed using earthquake resistant material (such as TMT bars) and follows proper design codes suffers less structural damage when compared to ordinary buildings.
4.    Seismic isolation is also a common practice for protecting a building from an earthquake.
In this practice, the base of the building is isolated from the subsoil by using a base isolation system.
This system absorbs the vibrations resulting from an earthquake, thus protecting it from an earthquake.
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5.    The earthquake-resistant buildings are strengthened in such a way that they are flexible enough to absorb vibrations.
 That is why the structure is bolstered using quake-resistant material, thus stabilizing them to a certain degree.

There is an increasing need to create awareness among local builders and people regarding better building planning in earthquake-prone zones.