What is the best material for an earthquake proof foundation for a house?

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1161774

2026-02-13 17:25

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Houses can only be made to resist earthquakes. They can only be designed and constructed to permit a minimum amount of damage when a quake hits. A big enough quake will destroy about any structure. It may be possible to build an "earthquake proof" house by making it extremely small and building it out of moderately thick reinforced concrete, welded plate steel or something like that which is both strong and rigid. If an appropriately designed structure was sitting on an appropriate pad (but separate from it), a huge quake would only succeed in moving the house around because it would be too small and strong to "break" under the stress. If such a structure was built, a quake would probably, at most, shear off (or tear off flexible) water, gas and waste water lines while making a mess out of the inside.

A structure like the one described would probably be minimally functional and no fun to live in. It may be possible to engineer a "floating" rigid structure out of other materials, but anything on this order would cost a mint. You might always build the whole thing out of rubber and dump the rigid idea. That way when the shaking stops, everything returns to its normal shape. Everything on the inside would be a mess, though. Those (the completely rigid and "unbreakable" structure or the completely "flexible" one) are the two ideas that will withstand a quake. Combining the two will involve trade-offs that will almost certainly defeat the project. Think about this problem and you may come up with other ideas. They are also are made of steel, fiber glass, and wood

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