Why do Buildings Collapse during Earthquakes? An explanation for laymen

in this paper several collapse pattern of buildings during earthquake are indicated. Collapse pattern are usually well understood by professionals trained in earthquake engineering. However, it is difficult for laymen to understand why and how structures collapse. In this paper explanations are given for no civil engineers so that they can understand the different behaviour of structures during earthquakes. It is important that scientist can explain the behaviour of structures to laymen. To explain the behaviour of the structures during earthquakes the fundamental physical laws are used. Everybody can relate to these fundamental laws of dynamics dased on everyday life experiences. The better understanding of the behaviour will also help craftsmen to build more earthquake resistant non-engineered structures. Examples of observed collapse pattern are used to demonstrate the different behaviours.

Keywords:

Earthquake , behaviour of structures , collapse pattern , laymen , fundamental physical laws