EARTHQUAKE RISKS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 24, 27 July 1929, Page 8

EARTHQUAKE RISKS

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —There has been considerable talk oi an investigation by architects, geologists, and other experts into the question of guarding against the effects of earthquake shocks on our buildings. I£ the respective stones of the great earthquakes in San Francisco and Japan be studied, however, it will be found that quite as much, if not more, damage was done by fire subsequent to the earthquakes as by the actual shocks, and that in both cases huge ferro-concrete buildinga that withstood the shake were gutted by fire. This secondary disaster was due almost entirely to the breakage of the watermains by the earthquake, and the consequent total lack of water, without which the firemen were, of course, utterly helpless in face of the flames. Surely in the light of this knowledge it seems quite as necessary to study shock-resisting properties for watermains as much as those for buildings. It may seem a difficult proposition, but I believe that more difficult problems have been settled by research.— I am, etc., . MERE MAN IN THE STREET.