Sui-Tang Dynasties: Earthquake resistant buildings

Abstract

The historical earthquakes during the Sui-Tang Dynasties occurred mainly in Guanzhong region, revealing the existence of a northwesterly Shiquan-Fangxian active fault zone on the south side of the Qinling Mountains. Seismic activity and the resistance of houses to earthquakes has always been a major concern of the community. Taking the Dule Temple in Jixian County as a typical representative, it focuses on the earthquake-resistant technology of wooden structure buildings in the Tang Dynasty：strong and homogeneous foundations, seismic isolation mechanisms for timber structures, strong seismic performance of cylinder structures, and damping systems for arch members and so on, which have had a profound impact on the development of technology in later generations. In the area of modern architecture, the basic principles of seismic zoning are introduced, the weaknesses of rural Tibetan houses and improvement measures are analyzed, and three types of seismic-resistant structures for urban buildings and the future direction of development are discussed.

Keywords

• earthquake-resistant buildings; wood-framed buildings of the tang dynasty
• seismic zoning
• tibetan-style houses in rural areas
• three types of seismic-resistant structures in urban areas