Earthquakes preventative measures

The December 26,2004, earthquake off of the northwest coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered a tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 persons in India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2006). This earthquake was followed by a second on March 28, 2005. International relief measures were evaluated at 7 months after the tsunami and 3 months after the second earthquake. Among published reports about the tsunami, no specific breakout of morbidity and mortality between children and adults in any of the affected geographic areas was found. 

Laboratory testing in the 1960 s soon showed that being denser than the critical state was not sufficient to prevent cyclic softening. The framework then emerged that a measure of the stresses imposed on the ground by the earthquake called the cyclic stress ratio (CSR)—should be eompared to an equivalent available strength of the ground, the cyclic resistance ratio (CRR). 

For example, the electricity distribution seismic strengthening program, commenced in 1996 and progressed systematically each year, costs 6 million and is estimated to have saved 60- 65 million in direct asset replacement costs and repairs. Total repair costs from the 2011 earthquake amounted to only 150,000. Seventeen bridges in Canterbury, including many in or near Christchurch, were identified as at risk and had been retrofitted at a cost of 2 million. These measures prevented critical damage, as only one bridge was closed due to approach settlement and... 

---