Is mass timber a good choice for seismic zones?

For some, it may be terrifying to think that we inhabit a sphere orbiting the Sun, whose core has temperatures of up to 6,000°C and all human activities are located on the Earth’s crust, the smallest layer in thickness, in the so-called tectonic plates. These plates float on the mantle, more precisely in the asthenosphere, and sometimes collide, causing earthquakes.

Brock Commons Tallwood House construction, Photo: KK Law

By Eduardo Souza, ArchDaily

As we can see in this interactive map, earthquakes are much more frequent than we imagine, with dozens occurring daily around the world, many of them unnoticed. But some are extremely potent, and when they occur near urban areas, they are one of the most destructive forces on Earth, causing death and damage to the built environment.

With the advancement of research, tests, and experiments in engineering, countries, and regions with tectonic activities already have the knowledge to reduce the danger of death and damage caused by these events. Some solutions and materials work better in the event of an earthquake. Wood is one of them.

An earthquake emits shock waves at short, rapid intervals, like an extremely severe horizontal charge. Buildings generally support vertical loads well (both dead loads such as the weight of the structural materials, and live loads such as building occupants, furniture, and other equipment). In the case of an earthquake, the lateral forces transmitted by the waves of the earthquake make the entire structure vibrate, which can cause anything from superficial damage to the total collapse of the structure.