1

The Early Years of Earthquake Engineering and Its Modern Goal

1.1 1.2 Introduction Birth and Growth of EE in the Early Years
Events in the Late 19th Century and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Its Aftermath 1908 Messina (Italy) and 1923 Kanto (Japan) Earthquakes 1925 to 1933 The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake and Its Aftermath Progress in Formulating Building Codes: 1933 to 1959 Establishment of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Historical Conferences in 1952 and 1956 Applications of Structural Dynamics to EE, Before 1960 Establishment of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering, 1960 Further Readings about the Early Years of EE in the United States

1.3 The Evolution of EE Since 1960

The Evolution of EEs Definition and Goal The Nature of Earthquake Problems, Disaster and Preparedness Definition, Assessment and Control of Seismic Risk Multidisciplinary Nature of EE

Vitelmo V. Bertero Yousef Bozorgnia

1.4 1.5

Recent Events, Developments and Future Challenges of EE Closing Remarks

1.1

Introduction

This chapter presents an overview of the early years of what presently is called earthquake engineering (EE), especially in the United States. Major events contributing to the growth of EE until 1960 are briefly discussed. We then trace the evolution of the definition of EE and its goal to the present time. The nature of the earthquake problem, the factors that can create an earthquake disaster and the importance of earthquake preparedness are then briefly discussed. The next section includes a summary list of major events, developments and advances since 1960, as well as a brief discussion of future challenges of EE. The final section offers some closing remarks.

1.2

Birth and Growth of EE in the Early Years

This section covers a brief history of EE until 1960, particularly in the United States. A complete history of EE is beyond the scope of this chapter due to space and scope constraints; hence, only selective events

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and people integral to EEs early development are discussed. It is not possible to give even a brief overview of EE in the United States without mentioning critical developments in other countries. Therefore, only some major relevant developments are summarized. According to Hudson (1992), EE is at once a very old and a very new subject. If EE is considered as just the conscious attempts made to improve the earthquake resistance of man-made structures, then it is an old subject, as testified by a 3000-year history of earthquakes in China. If, on the other hand, it is considered as the results of scientifically based multidisciplinary efforts, then it is a relatively new subject. Throughout this chapter, this modern scientific aspect of EE has been kept in mind and emphasized. As many authors have indicated (e.g., Housner, 1984; Usami, 1988; Hudson, 1992) it is difficult to establish a precise date that EE, in its modern definition, started. However, different time periods of major events and activities related to earthquake investigations, earthquake-resistant design (EQ-RD), and earthquake preparedness have been identified, and a brief discussion is presented here.

1.2.1

Events in the Late 19th Century, and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Its Aftermath

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, interest in earthquakes and their effects increased in Japan, Italy and the United States (particularly California) (Freeman, 1932; Housner, 1984; Usami, 1988; Hudson, 1992; Elnashai, 2002). This was mainly a consequence of major earthquakes such as: in Japan, the 1855 Edo (Usami, 1988); 1891 Mino-Awari (Housner, 1984) and 1923 Kanto earthquakes; in the United States, the 1906 in San Francisco, California and in Italy, the 1908 Messina. According to Hu et al. (1996): Earthquake engineering started at the end of the 19th century when some European engineers suggested designing structures with a few percent of the weight of the structure as the horizontal load. This idea of seismic design was taken up and developed in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Usami (1988) stated: In the case of Japan, I personally think that the professional practice of earthquake engineering began after a severely damaging earthquake that struck Tokyo (which was then called Edo) in 1855. In the following year, a pamphlet entitled Methods of Fire Prevention, With Illustrations, outlining specific and practical methods for greatly improving the shear-bearing capacity of wooden houses through triangular cross bracing, was published. Furthermore, Usami (1988) also indicated: In 1914, Sano, a Japanese engineer, developed a quasi-dynamic theory, which we now call the seismic coefficient method, for designing earthquake resistant wood, brick, reinforced concrete, and steel structures. Sanos work, which was published in a paper entitled Methods for Designing Earthquake Resistant Houses, marked the beginning of quantitative work in earthquake engineering in Japan. As Housner (1984), Bolt (1996 and Chapter 2 of this book) and Elnashai (2002) have indicated, in the 19th century a number of English engineers became interested in earthquakes and contributed significantly to earthquake knowledge. They included Robert Mallet (a civil engineer), John Milne (a mining engineer) and James Ewing and Thomas Gray (both mechanical engineers). In fact, Robert Mallet invented the word seismology, which is derived from Greek words meaning shake-knowledge; he also coined the term epicenter (Housner, 1984). According to Housner (1984), Robert Mallet can be called the primeval earthquake engineer. On April 18, 1906 a major earthquake (Mw 7.9) struck San Francisco and northern California. More than 430 km of the San Andreas Fault was ruptured during this earthquake, which caused considerable damage in San Francisco (see Figure 1.1) and northern California. As pointed out by Housner (1984),

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