Krazy
February 10th, 2007, 12:20 AM
Should Dubai realtors fear earthquakes?
http://www.gulfnews.com/images/07/02/09/10_bz_earthquake_4.jpg
Dubai: Close to the UAE's mass of multi-billion dollar skyscrapers lies southern Iran - a region where decades of devastating seismic activity has had crippling social and economic consequences.
Although the active Zagros Fold Belt runs along the south coast of Iran, just across the Arabian Gulf from cities including Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Dubai, most studies say the Gulf is in fact a relatively benign seismic area, lying on the stable Arabian plate.
However, other findings conclude that the Gulf shares similar seismic hazard levels as parts of California and Iran - food for thought considering that some of the most prime real estate in the UAE is built on soft re-claimed land.
According to Zygmunt Lubkowski, Arup Associate and geotechnical earthquake engineering expert, Dubai has nothing to worry about based on existing earthquake records. But he warned that these records only cover a fraction of time in the region's overall seismic history.
"Dubai has felt a number of small earthquakes, the most recent in March 2002," he said. "However, people have been recording earthquakes in the Gulf States for no more than 30 years, so we can't be 100 per cent sure about what's going on."
In Dubai, buildings of five storeys or more must comply with municipality requirements, which according to Lubkowski, require buildings to withstand levels of ground shaking far above that which could realistically occur.
But some types of buildings are more as risk to substantial ground movement than others, he said. "Dubai has started putting buildings on very soft soil, such as reclaimed land along the coast.
The impact of seismic activity can be more significant in these areas as the tremors intensify," he said. "This would make it uncomfortable for people in the top floors of tall buildings, but certainly no structural failure."
A common misconception is that tall buildings such as the Burj Dubai would be more at risk to ground movement than low rise buildings in Dubai.
Experts say buildings most at risk are five to 10 storey ones on reclaimed land, which do not have a huge wind load. But even then the risk is small, they say.
"The taller and thinner a building the more flexible it is and the more it absorbs the energy of a quake," said Andy Davids, director of structures at Hyder Consulting, part of the design team for the Burj Dubai and Emirates Towers.
"We've got quite a benign seismic environment here and even we did have a large quake, the effect in a tall building would be minimal."
http://www.gulfnews.com/images/07/02/09/10_bz_earthquake_4.jpg
Dubai: Close to the UAE's mass of multi-billion dollar skyscrapers lies southern Iran - a region where decades of devastating seismic activity has had crippling social and economic consequences.
Although the active Zagros Fold Belt runs along the south coast of Iran, just across the Arabian Gulf from cities including Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Dubai, most studies say the Gulf is in fact a relatively benign seismic area, lying on the stable Arabian plate.
However, other findings conclude that the Gulf shares similar seismic hazard levels as parts of California and Iran - food for thought considering that some of the most prime real estate in the UAE is built on soft re-claimed land.
According to Zygmunt Lubkowski, Arup Associate and geotechnical earthquake engineering expert, Dubai has nothing to worry about based on existing earthquake records. But he warned that these records only cover a fraction of time in the region's overall seismic history.
"Dubai has felt a number of small earthquakes, the most recent in March 2002," he said. "However, people have been recording earthquakes in the Gulf States for no more than 30 years, so we can't be 100 per cent sure about what's going on."
In Dubai, buildings of five storeys or more must comply with municipality requirements, which according to Lubkowski, require buildings to withstand levels of ground shaking far above that which could realistically occur.
But some types of buildings are more as risk to substantial ground movement than others, he said. "Dubai has started putting buildings on very soft soil, such as reclaimed land along the coast.
The impact of seismic activity can be more significant in these areas as the tremors intensify," he said. "This would make it uncomfortable for people in the top floors of tall buildings, but certainly no structural failure."
A common misconception is that tall buildings such as the Burj Dubai would be more at risk to ground movement than low rise buildings in Dubai.
Experts say buildings most at risk are five to 10 storey ones on reclaimed land, which do not have a huge wind load. But even then the risk is small, they say.
"The taller and thinner a building the more flexible it is and the more it absorbs the energy of a quake," said Andy Davids, director of structures at Hyder Consulting, part of the design team for the Burj Dubai and Emirates Towers.
"We've got quite a benign seismic environment here and even we did have a large quake, the effect in a tall building would be minimal."