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Single story, wood-framed, regular shaped buildings or residences with a large number of
interior walls have been shown to be highly earthquake resistant. These building types are
likely to sustain less damage than buildings with irregular plan shapes, large and numerous
window openings, split-level designs and multiple floor levels, buildings on the side of hills,
and with tall unbraced walls. The multitude of walls in the regular shaped buildings adds
redundancy to the structure and essentially provides "backup" systems or multiple load paths
to resist earthquake loads. Utilizing this concept, building a "safe room" in the house can
provide added life safety protection for the homeowner and their family. A safe room is a
single room in the house with added structural strengthening such as plywood sheathing on
both face of all walls and both sides of the ceiling, and with its own foundation. All walls,
floors and the ceiling are securely tied or anchored. Straps and holdowns are added to secure
the walls to the foundation system below the safe room. The ceiling framing is strengthened to prevent
any collapse from above.
The safe room is designed to withstand the largest earthquake and provide a safe haven for
residents during such events. Major earthquakes can cause significant damage even to well
designed buildings. Because the partial collapse of buildings is still possible, at least one
area of the structure should be well protected against catastrophic loss. The safe room can
also be used to store emergency supplies. The safe room needs to be properly engineered,
preferably located on the ground floor, and easily accessible for all occupants of the building.
We believe that one of the children's bedrooms would make a good safe room. Safe room should
have a means of emergency egress to the outside and all loose furniture, equipment, shelves,
contents, etc. located in the safe room should be properly braced.
We hope that more homeowners and developers will consider adding a safe room to new residential
buildings. Adding safe rooms to existing buildings involves more effort and cost, but
certainly is possible and should be considered in any earthquake preparedness plan.
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