Know More About Earthquake Proofing and Retrofitting

Earthquake proofing is to make your home safe enough for earthquake. Earthquake retrofitting and earthquake proofing should not be confused with each other. Where earthquake retrofitting refers to strengthening the structure of the building to withstand an earthquake, earthquake proofing is to make the building safer from any damage due to an earthquake.

During an earthquake the shaking of the earth and the movement of the structure causes items around the house to fall off and shatter. The shattered objects can cause injuries, a heavy item falling may break a bone or two and a lot of damage is caused to the household items and the property. Earthquake proofing is to secure these objects around the house so that they do not fall and break. It can include securing frames, paintings, photographs, mantelpiece items, decoration pieces and other such things with some sort of an adhesive like blu-tac etc. Heavier items like bookshelves, closets, refrigerators, microwave, stoves and water tanks should also be secured. Home improvement stores carry adhesives for the purpose and you can easily find the type of adhesive that you require. Also keep sharp and pointed objects like kitchen knives, tools etc closed in cabinets so that they do not fly out and hit someone during the earthquake. Earthquake proofing also includes some precautions like standing close to the windows should especially be avoided because class tends to shatter due to intense tremors and the pieces fly out in all directions. Shatter-resistant membranes are available which are installed by professional handymen and carpenters. Although these do not make the glass shatterproof but they do prevent the shards from flying off into different directions due to adhesives. Make sure that there are not any dead trees near the house which might break off and fall over during shaking caused by the earthquake.

Earthquake retrofitting is to strengthen your building against the hazards of an earthquake. Buildings should have a strong contact with their foundations to avoid sliding off them during tremors. Foundations should be checked for repairs from time to time to avoid them from cracking during an earthquake which would cause the building to collapse. The newer buildings constructed in the last two or three decades were built keeping the most modern earthquake proof techniques in mind to give them more stability. The structure before that did not follow any such codes and earthquake retrofitting is carried out in such structures to make them resistant to earthquakes. Earthquake retrofitting is the sole work of an engineer and experienced contractors and you can get in touch with a professional company in case you are looking to earthquake retrofit your house or any other property.

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