Ambient Vibrations Determine Earthquake Damage

Ambient Vibrations Determine Earthquake Damage
Jan-28-19
A new tool for use after earthquakes determines a building’s safety level by listening to ambient vibrations.

Buildings left standing after earthquakes can look sound, but still have serious—yet invisible—structural damage. To make it easier to determine whether these buildings are safe for occupancy, the team from EPFL created a device that records the structure’s ambient vibrations via a set of sensors and a portable seismograph. These vibrations can be analyzed by the system to separate natural ones—such as wind or traffic—from signals caused by changes in the structure of the building, and thereby help determine if the building is secure enough to move back into.

Ambient Vibrations Determine Earthquake Damage


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Tiny versions might detect glass, ceramics and curios.
Posted by Uolevi Kattun on January 30, 2019

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