Interaction of building and ground during an earthquake

Abstract

A point of much interest to engineers is the interaction of a building and the ground during an earthquake. There are several facets of this problem that have a bearing on the stresses produced in a building during an earthquake. First, there is the question of the influence of the building on recorded ground motion. The majority of the accelerometers for recording strong ground motion are in the basements of buildings and hence record the motion of the base of the building. The question thus arises, How much does this recorded motion differ from that which would have been recorded at the site had there been no building? If there should be a marked difference between the motion recorded within a building and that recorded directly on the surface of the ground, there would be a possibility of designing a building so as to minimize the base motion it would receive during an earthquake.

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