they lose the front and back walls, they lost all of their storefront glazing.
Shear Walls in the Field
| One Unlucky Building | |
|
|
| One of the unreinforced masonry buildings downtown.
Not only did they lose the front and back walls, they lost all of their storefront glazing. |
| Wood Framed Home | |
 |
|
| This home used to sit on short wood walls. When the
earthquake came, those walls collapsed. The fireplace peeled away. But look how the 1x straight sheathing is still holding the wall together. |
| The Big Easy | |
 |
|
| Here is a three-sided box structure on main street.
Rotation of the building not only did in the storefront, it damaged a few of the side windows too. |
| Listing to Port | |
 |
|
| If you view this photo closely you can actually see
the bend in the exterior wall line at left. Three-sided boxes can be designed to resist forces but there is no guarantee they will return to their previous shape. |
| Walk This Way | |
 |
|
| Here the larger adjacent building has pushed the smaller
out of plumb. Seismic gaps in new construction are meant to correct this problem. |
