![]() Category F includes structures required to remain functional following a strong earthquake, such as hospitals and emergency communications centers, which are located very close to major active faults like the San Andreas fault in California or Wasatch fault in Salt Lake City. Seismic design category A encompasses buildings of ordinary occupancy that are located on sites with stiff soils and have little risk of experiencing earthquakes. The six seismic design categories (A to F) are determined by geographic location, site soil type, and occupancy. Instead, today’s building codes use the concept of a seismic design category. The International Building Code (IBC), which forms the basis for most building codes enforced by state and local government today, no longer uses seismic zones. The codes specified five geographically based seismic zones, ranging from zone 0 (much of Texas and Florida), where earthquakes were not expected to occur and seismic design was not required, to zone 4 (coastal California and Alaska), where large earthquakes frequently occur and the most stringent seismic design and construction requirements applied. building codes designated seismic design requirements by means of seismic zones. Here are the top four things that MEP engineers should be aware of related to seismic design of mechanical and electrical systems: building owners, our codes do require seismic design of nonstructural systems. This is partly due to Japanese building codes, which set tougher standards for seismic design of structures than the United States, but generally do not regulate the seismic design of nonstructural systems and components. However, there was extensive damage to nonstructural components and systems, including building mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. Most of the structural damage was a result of the tsunami and not the earthquake. Despite the incredible force of the March 11 earthquake in Japan, which had a magnitude of 8.9 and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks, most of Japan’s buildings and infrastructure had little structural damage.
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