Seismic Barrier Protection of Critical Infrastructure from Earthquakes
Abstract
Each year, on average, a magnitude-8 earthquake strikes somewhere in the world. In addition, 10,000 earthquake related deaths occur annually, where collapsing buildings claim most lives. Moreover, in recent events, industry activity of wastewater reinjection is suspected to cause earthquake swarms that threaten high-value infrastructure and properties. Earthquake engineering technology has evolved over many years to minimize the destructive effects of seismic waves. However, even under the best practices, significant damage and fatalities can still occur. Here we present a novel concept that redirects and attenuates hazardous seismic waves using an engineered subsurface seismic barrier. The barrier consists of borehole array and trench complexes that inhibit destructive seismic waves from entering a designated protection zone. The barrier is designed to counter not only surface waves in the aerial-horizontal plane, but employs a vertical V shaped muffler structure composed of opposing boreholes or trenches to mitigate seismic waves from diffracting and traveling in the vertical plane.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1034605
Entities
People
- Mordechai Rothschild
- Robert W. Haupt
- Vladimir Liberman
Organizations
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory