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Título del libro: Earthquake Source Asymmetry, Structural Media And Rotation Effects
Título del capítulo: Earthquake hazard in the valley of Mexico: Entropy, structure, complexity

Autores UNAM:
CINNA LOMNITZ ARONSFRAU; HERIBERTA LOURDES CASTAÑOS RODRIGUEZ;
Autores externos:

Idioma:
Inglés
Año de publicación:
2006
Resumen:

Disasters are complex events that occur in complex 3-D environments. The structure of central Mexico involves an offshore subduction zone, a volcanic belt, an efficient Lg waveguide, several tectonic terranes that accreted in different geological periods, and a variety of complicated local structures (Kennett and Furumura 2002, Ottem'ller et al. 2002). Disasters such as the 1985 earthquake strike Mexico City as a result of a combination of unusual factors. First, the city was located several hundred kilometers inland from the epicenter of a damaging subduction earthquake off the Pacific coast. Second, the waves that caused the damage were coherent, monochromatic, high-amplitude surface waves of very long duration. These characteristic wave trains were recorded only on soft lake sediments in the downtown urban area. Finally, severe structural damage occurred mainly in modern, multistory office and apartment buildings. Traditional masonry construction performed quite well, and so did low-income housing. The high degree of surprise still commonly associated with disasters is due to unexpected combinations of causes and circumstances. Some modern views of disasters reflect the embarrassing puzzlement of specialists in their preference for paradoxical explanations - such as that "nature, technology and society interact to generate vulnerability and resilience to hazard" (Burton et al. 1993). The very concept of vulnerability is being questioned. The 1985 Mexico earthquake selectively destroyed the most highly developed part of the country and within it, those structures designed by engineers in accordance with a building code widely regarded as the most advanced in the world - while 300-year old Colonial churches and monuments survived. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.


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