8 months ago
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Students at George Washington University's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering are getting lessons from this week's devastating earthquake in Haiti. As Associate Professor Dr. Pedro Silva watches video images of the destruction there, he sees failures in concrete construction that he teaches his students to avoid.
Dr. Silva says he sees concrete cracking at a 45 degree angle in that Haiti destruction, a common result of concrete under stress. He teaches his students how to reinforce concrete and how to predict the amount of stress the reinforced material can withstand.
The kind of destruction seen in Haiti could well happen in the DC area should a quake hit here. Building codes were changed in the 1970's to demand stronger concrete, but many of the area's bridges and buildings were built before those changes.
Dr. Silva says the density of the continental shelf along the East Coast makes earthquakes here potentially more damaging than those seen in the Western United States.
A notorious fault in South Carolina experiences increasing pressure with each passing year and, although Dr. Silva says it is not expected to produce a large quake for 50 or 100 years, he adds it could happen anytime.
Because of the geologic conditions in eastern North America, a large quake in the Carolinas would likely do damage in the DC area, Dr. Silva told 9NEWS NOW.
Comments 
