Buffalo researchers to test how NYC’s old brownstones would fair in an earthquake

Screen Shot 2013 02 14 At 8 31 01 Am

For years, folks in New York City gave little thought to natural disasters. That sort of thing simply didn’t happen there.

But these days, Mother Nature is anything but predictable and Superstorm Sandy showed a large-scale, deadly natural disaster can happen absolutely anywhere.

With that and a 2011 earthquake in Virginia that shook the East Coast, in mind, researchers want to find out how some of New York’s oldest unreinforced homes would fair during an earthquake, reports Structural Engineer.

These row houses are made of 100-year-old brick. Hardly a vote of confidence during an earthquake with New York at the epicenter. So, on February 19th, researchers are going to use a shake table at the University of Buffalo’s earthquake simulation lab to simulate such an earthquake and use the results to calculate the toll it would take on these older homes.

The video below shows you exactly how the researchers plan to get those results.

[youtube JVsAj_S9KSg nolink]