how do construction methods & technologies that scientists use to help prevent earthquake damage?
814300
Some of the techniques are: active and passive damping; minimiization of masonry in tension (such as avoidance of overhangs and use of ring collars); reinforcement of structures at high-stress areas; cross-bracing; deliberately flexible design; base sliders or rollers to accommodate ground motion. See the refs. below.
556777
Geological Engineers typically learn how to:\n    *  design structures in soil and rock for foundations, dams, tunnels and other caverns;\n    * minimize the effects of geologic hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanos; and\n    * protect the environment through cleanups of polluted sites, proper waste disposal, erosion control and groundwater quality maintenance. \n\nThis may fall under geology, Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Mine Engineering at other universities.
231177
Is this a project that requires you to build or write something about earthquakes?\n\nI would suggest building different types of structures (buildings) to see how each would withstand a quake. The only problem with that is you would have to have a way of testing the structures. You can actually use a board underneath the structures & just move the board back & forth.\n\nYou could make a homemade siesmograph machine. Doesn't take much. Look it up on the net.
274866
this site is the best\nhttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/
309365
Well, NDT won't prevent problems on bridges. It only identifies potential problems once the work has been constructed. If you are referring to NDT on materials prior to the release of construction documents / design, you need to go either to state agencies, or to the engineering firms that design them.\n\nTry getting a hold of the Big Dig construction managers for the city / state. I hear that they are doing extensive NDT to try to detect materials problems. You may also want to try the new Potomic Crossing Authority (or something close to that) in DC regarding their new bridge, and CalTrans for their bay bridge in SF.\n\nNDT information is usually only available to the engineers, you can try an FOIA request to see if they will let the information out.
940029
No amount of engineering can as yet stop a fault from moving. A house, skyscraper, dam, nuclear power plant built on a fault can be destroyed in an instant.\nJoints can not be grouted closed or cemented over, especially if you are building a levee or a dam. Mainly because it is so difficult to map the full extent of the joints.\nFolds can cause variation in the depth and hardness of solid rock.\nUnconformity's are simply that. Unconformity's, a beak in the uniformity of the soil or rock thus affecting the safe placement of support structures and thus the future stability of the building.
546142
They use seismographs all around the world to see how earthquake vibrations move through the earth like giant sound waves. They can tell that there are different layers with different physical characteristics by the reflection and refraction of the seismic waves.\n\nThere are other methods to "see" inside the earth, but seismic exploration has been the most fruitful by far.
942692
engineers know the properties of the materials used.  They also know the construction techniques used.  They may calculate load limits bases on theoretical assumptions or they may construct a model bridge, put a load on it and increase the load until the bridge breaks.  Knowing the characterists of the model, they can predict the characteristics of the real bridge.\n\nSometimes things can go wrong \n--> http://www.enm.bris.ac.uk/anm/tacoma/tacnarr.mpg
660044
if you are talking about the geological subject, them im thinking its a ticking time bomb that will errupt into something catastrophic one day. it could be far far into the future but we really need to consider the potential damage. At the same time it will be forming new land (though that takes a while) and the plates will probably start causing more and more serious earthquakes in places that have never felt them before, therefore noone will really no what to do.. in short, were all doomed. Seriously, i hope not, but its kinda like when people build condos on the beach, ur taking an awfully big risk of natures fury to take it out like a toothpick. but theres not much anyone can do other than advise against it if they see potential activity
286404
When there is an earthquake, they can measure it on the other side of the world.  If Earth was one type of solid, the vibrations are a certain way.  Because the vibrations change as they pass through the earth, they can conclude some things, like the core is liquid.  They also drill deep into the earth and pull out samples to see what is down there.  We manage to drill far enough to find oil.
368107
They are used to prevent cracking and tearing of various types of materials due to expansion and contraction of said materials because of temperature changes. What else do you need to know?
231920
Animals have keen senses that help them avoid predators or locate prey. It is thought that these senses might also help them detect pending disasters. Several countries have conducted research on the detection of earthquakes by animals.\n\nThere are two theories as to how animals may be able to detect earthquakes. One theory is that animals sense the earth's vibrations. Another is that they can detect changes in the air or gases released by the earth. There has been no conclusive evidence as to how animals may be able to sense earthquakes. Some researchers believe the animals at Yala National Park were able to detect the earthquake and move to higher ground before the tsunami hit, causing massive waves and flooding. \n\nOther researchers are skeptical about using animals as earthquake and natural disaster detectors. They site the difficulty of developing a controlled study that can connect a specific animal behavior with an earthquake occurrence. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) officially states: *Changes in animal behavior cannot be used to predict earthquakes. Even though there have been documented cases of unusual animal behavior prior to earthquakes, a reproducible connection between a specific behavior and the occurrence of an earthquake has not been made. Because of their finely tuned senses, animals can often feel the earthquake at its earliest stages before the humans around it can. This feeds the myth that the animal knew the earthquake was coming. But animals also change their behavior for many reasons, and given that an earthquake can shake millions of people, it is likely that a few of their pets will, by chance, be acting strangely before an earthquake.\n\nAlthough scientists disagree as to whether animal behavior can be used to predict earthquakes and natural disasters, they all agree that it is possible for animals to sense changes in the environment before humans. Researchers around the world are continuing to study animal behavior and earthquakes. It is hoped that these studies will help to aid earthquake predictions.
910772
By analyzing the frequency ,arrival time and various components of the seismograph recorded during earthquakes. Different types of density of layers conduct the waves in different types. You can compare with non destructive type of metal testing by spectrogram method.
792319
An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy in the crust that propagates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property.\n\nEarthquakes may occur naturally or as a result of human activities. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans—that generates seismic waves.\n\nTypes of earthquakes Naturally occurring earthquakes Most naturally occurring earthquakes are related to the tectonic nature of the Earth. Such earthquakes are called tectonic earthquakes. The Earth's lithosphere is a patchwork of plates in slow but constant motion caused by the heat in the Earth's mantle and core. Plate boundaries grind past each other, creating frictional stress. When the frictional stress exceeds a critical value, called local strength, a sudden failure occurs. The boundary of tectonic plates along which failure occurs is called the fault plane. When the failure at the fault plane results in a violent displacement of the Earth's crust, the elastic strain energy is released and seismic waves are radiated, thus causing an earthquake. This processes of strain, stress, and failure is referred to as the Elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth and is converted into heat. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available potential energy, though these losses are negligible Earthquakes occurring at boundaries of tectonic plates are called interplate earthquakes, while the less frequent events that occur in the interior of the lithospheric plates are called intraplate earthquakes.\n\nYou could get more information from the link below...
633540
well there are earthquakes problems, also if the ground you are about to lay your foundation is too soft that you can't really built anything big on top of it like the leaning tower of pisa.  Also right now there is a problem with building materials, the prices are going up because in China there are a lot of new buildings being made, causing some projects here to be either cancelled or stopped because of the the price for materials.
112332
It's a read-out from a Seismometer\n---------------------------\nSeismometer (in Greek seismos = earthquake and metero = measure) are used by seismologists to measure and record seismic waves. By studying seismic waves, geologists can map the interior of the Earth, and measure and locate earthquakes and other ground motions. The term seismograph is usually interchangeable, but seismometer seems to be a more common usage.\n\nThe seismometer was first invented by Zhang Heng in China in 132AD.\n\nLater John Milne invented the horizontal pendulum seismograph at the Imperial College of Engineering in Japan in 1880. This marked the beginning of modern seismology.\n\nBasic principles\nSeismometers have:\n\nA frame securely affixed to the earth. The foundation is critical, and often the most expensive part of a seismic station. \nAn inertial mass suspended in the frame by some method, using springs or gravity to establish a steady-state reference position. \nA damper system to prevent long term oscillations in response to an event. \nA means of recording the motion of the mass relative to the frame. Early seismometers used optics, or motion-amplifying mechanical linkages, while modern instruments use electronic amplification of signals generated by position or motion sensors. \nPassing seismic waves move the frame, while the mass tends to stay in a fixed position due to its inertia. The seismometer measures the relative motion between the frame and the suspended mass.\n\nProfessional seismic observatories usually have instruments measuring three axes, north-south, east-west, and up-down. Seismologists generally prefer a vertical seismograph if only one instrument is available.\n\nA professional station is sometimes mounted on bedrock with an uncracked connection to a continental plate. The best mountings may be in deep boreholes, which avoid thermal effects, ground noise and tilting from weather and tides. Amateur, or less exotic instruments are often mounted in insulated enclosures on small buried piers of unreinforced concrete. Reinforcing rods and aggregates would distort the pier as the temperature changes. A site should always be surveyed for ground noise with a temporary installation before pouring the pier and laying conduit.\n\nAn early example\nThe principle can be shown by an early special purpose seismometer. This consisted of a large stationary pendulum, with a stylus on the bottom. As the earth starts to move, the heavy mass of the pendulum has the inertia to stay still in the non-earth frame of reference. The result is that the stylus scratches a pattern corresponding with the earth's movement. This type of strong motion seismometer recorded upon a smoked glass (glass with carbon soot). While not sensitive enough to detect distant earthquakes, this instrument could indicate the direction of the initial pressure waves and thus help find the epicenter of a local earthquake — such instruments were useful in the analysis of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Further re-analysis was performed in the 1980s using these early recordings, enabling a more precice determination of the initial fault break location in Marin county and its subsequent progression, mostly to the south.\n\nEarly Designs\nAfter 1880, most seismometers were descended from those developed by the team of John Milne, James Alfred Ewing and Thomas Gray, who worked together in Japan from 1880-1895. These seismometers used damped horizontal pendulums. Later, after World War II, these were adapted into the widely-used Press-Ewing seismometer.\n\nLater, professional suites of instruments for the world-wide standard seismographic network had one set of instruments tuned to oscillate at fifteen seconds, and the other at ninety seconds, each set measuring in three directions. Amateurs or observatories with limited means tuned their smaller, less sensitive instruments to ten seconds.\n\nThe basic damped horizontal pendulum seismometer swings like the gate of
327959
Animal behavior study. A transmitter is attached to a birds leg, a deer's neck. This helps to determine if animals move out of the habitat which they were born.\n\nUsed to record wild life in a given area, sound and pictures as animals move tripping a motion detector.\n\nEarthquake detection:\nAlso, to detect ground motion near fault lines such as in California or on volcanic mountains which may errupt. Also, detection for sulpher contamination which is another indicator.\n\nTsunami warning:\nAs a tsunami detection in the ocean. Yes, the US has used detectors as far back as in 1941. Not all countries support the need which could have saved lives if used in the India Ocean.\nCheck out the following link on buoy use for detection: