News >> CURRENT

Here is some news on earthquake safety of housing from across the world. Periodically, these news items are archived under OLD news on this site. Click here to view them

2006-04-14; DRAFT Global Standard for Seismic Safety Programs
The International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) and the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI) formed a joint Working Group to promote activities that influence public policy and reduce earthquake losses throughout the world. The draft document outlines major focus areas and initiatives that governments may undertake to mitigate negative effects of earthquakes in future.
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2006-01-01; New Editor-in-Chief appointed for Year 2006-07
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2006-05-31; New WHE Website underway
EERI has initiated the process of upgrading the WHE website. The new site is expected to be ready by August 2006. If you have any suggestions, please send the same to C.V.R.Murty (Editor-in-Chief) or Marjorie Greene (Managing Editor).
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2006-08-04; Work Begins on EERI's New Tutorial on Stone Masonry Houses
The World Housing Encyclopedia has begun the exercise of writing a new Tutorial on Stone Masonry Houses. The team leader for this project is one of WHE's distinguished Editorial Board Members, Jitendra K. Bothara (Nepal). In this effort, Jitendra will work with a team of professionals with experience in field work, testing and outreach. It will take a few months for a draft document to be made available for discussion.
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2006-08-04; Volunteers sought for developing WHE Database on Post-Earthquake Shelters
When the new website is launched, WHE will host designs of post-earthquake shelters (both temporary and intermediate shelters). These are intended to give potential users an idea of what has been tried in the past and how successful they have been). Persons interested in contributing their entries may contact C.V.R.Murty (Editor-in-Chief) or Marjorie Greene (Managing Editor).
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2007-08-01; WHE Special Session at 14WCEE at Beijing, China in October 2008
The WHE project is organizing a special session at the 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. This special session will focus on information sharing and educational initiatives for improving global seismic safety. This session will present some of the WHE initiatives and activities, but will also include initiatives and ideas presented by other groups with the same interest. Interested authors are encouraged to submit abstracts to the 14WCEE for this special session! Contact C. V. R. Murty or Marjorie Greene for further information.
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2008-01-26; New document on Confined Masonry Construction released
A new document is just released on "Earthquake Resistant Confined Masonry Construction" authored by Svetlana N. Brzev of British Columbia Institute of Technology, Vancouver, CANADA. The document is published by the National Information Center of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, INDIA. For your free copy, rush your email to nicee@iitk.ac.in or log on to: www.nicee.org.
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2008-01-27; International Discussion Meeting on Confined Masonry
Nineteen international professionals and academics from 8 countries are holding discussions during 26-28 January 2008 in Kanpur, India, to develop a strategy to increase the acceptance and adoption of Confined Masonry as a viable alternative to current housing construction methodologies. This meeting is supported by National Information Center of Earthquake Engineering (INDIA), Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (USA), World Seismic Safety Initiative (SINGAPORE), Risk Management Solutions (USA) and China Earthquake Administration (CHINA).
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2008-05-19; New Report on Minifalda construction in Nicaragua
A new report on vivienda de minifalda construction in Nicaragua has been prepared by authors Dominik Lang, Alvaro Amador, Lisa Holliday, Claudio Romero L
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2008-06-20; New Tutorials on Adobe
Two tutorials are now available on the WHE site, prepared by WHE colleagues at the Catholic University of Peru, on earthquake-resistant adobe construction using geomesh. They are available as pdfs, in Spanish for mountainous regions and in English for arid regions. Click on Released under Tutorials & Guides in left-hand menu, or go to Online documents under Library in left-hand menu.
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2008-09-04; NEW Editor-in-Chief
Andrew Charleson, associate professor and structural engineer,in the School of Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, has recently been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the WHE, taking over from Professor C.V.R. Murty who has recently taken a new and challenging assignment to help create a new IIT in Hyderabad.
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2008-09-30; Risk Management Solutions to support Confined Masonry Network
Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has given EERI a grant to support activities of a new initiative, the Confined Masonry Network. This network has two major objectives: to improve the design and construction quality of confined masonry where it is currently in use; and to introduce confined masonry in areas where it can reduce seismic risk. (Photo to right shows undamaged confined masonry house in 2008 Wenchuan, China, earthquake [Build Change]).
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2009-03-17; New Housing Report: Koti Banal construction
Despite being located in a high seismic risk area, a region in the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh (Northern India) exhibits an elaborate tradition of constructing multistoried houses. Read more about this interesting type by clicking on this report under India.
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2009-03-17; New Housing Report: Naga construction
The housing type is most common throughout Northeast India which lies in the most severe seismic zone of the country. Typically these houses are built with light weight locally available material like bamboo, wooden planks, thatch etc. These housing types have a traditional system of bamboo/wooden posts. During discussions with local people about the performance of these houses in the past major earthquakes, it was noted that the majority of houses survived. Read more by clicking on report in India.
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2009-08-20; WHE Editorial Board member Marcial Blondet gives an interview with the BBC on using geomesh to reinforce adobe housing.
WHE Editorial Board member Marcial Blondet gives an interview with the BBC on using geomesh to reinforce adobe housing.
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2009-10-28; RC Frame Tutorial Translated into Bahasa Indonesian thanks to the hard work of WHE Editorial Board members Sugeng Wijanto and Takim Andriono: View by clicking on Tutorials
Thanks to the hard work of WHE Editorial Board members Sugeng Wijanto and Takim Andriono, the RC frame tutorial has been translated into bahasa.
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