Security while the world is shaking

Security while the world is shaking

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. We all have in our heads the images of disastrous earthquakes. For many people in parts of the world which are considered to be safe these catastrophes seem so far away. As human beings we naturally tend to have a constant feeling of physical and psychological integrity.

But in fact quakes regularly threaten a population of around 1 billion living in seismically active regions all around the world. Indeed this natural phenomenon occurs over a million times annually. When the ground starts shaking - where would you hide? What would be the most secure place for you to find protection?

Avoiding damage

Still the best way to protect yourself when you are inside a house during an earthquake is to stand in the doorway or crouch under a desk or table. To provide security for residential houses and buildings, the wall and ceiling structure should be solidly built.

But even after resisting a strong earthquake, many buildings are still seriously damaged because of the lack of a strong building structure. Sika provides a tried and tested range of products to reinforce walls, columns and ceilings. After an earthquake, however, fast and cost-effective repair techniques are required to restore the buildings to service within a short space of time.

Reinforcement of concrete

To achieve this, cracked concrete can be injected with epoxy resin-based Sikadur-52 and reinforced with externally bonded SikaWrap carbon fibre fabric. Heavily damaged concrete might be replaced by Sika MonoTop repair mortar or SikaGrout pouring mortar, while additional reinforcement is bonded to existing concrete using Sika AnchorFix anchoring adhesive.

Tested power

Earthquake-damaged, cracked masonry walls in typical apartment buildings present a serious risk to inhabitants even during small aftershocks. The Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG) has performed a series of tests with large scale masonry walls subjected to a simulated earthquake.

Following the serious damage sustained, a layer of SikaWrap-350 G Grid textile reinforcement embedded in Sika MonoTop-722 Mur mortar was applied to the walls. Compared to the original walls, damaged walls that were subsequently repaired are able to resist earthquakes over 2.5 times more powerful. This shows that substantial protection is possible even before any
damage is suffered.

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