ABSTRACT
Figure 20 City Hall building in downtown Salt Lake City that has lead in its baseisolation system. (Courtesy of Salt Lake City Corporation.)
Table 7 Measured Acceleration in a Traditional and Base-Isolated Structure During the Northridge Earthquake [376]
Name of building
Sylmar Olive View Hospital (traditional structure)
Los Angeles USC Hospital (base-isolated structure)
Distance from earthquake's
epicenter
Free surface
Horizontal 0.91 G Vertical 0.6 G Horizontal 0.49 G Vertical 0.12 G
Foundations
Horizontal 0.82 G Vertical 0.34 G Horizontal 0.37 G Vertical 0.09 G
Superstructure
Horizontal 2.31 G (roof) Vertical G data not available Horizontal 0.21 G (roof) Vertical 0.13 G
the conventional earthquake-resistant structure. When considering the stability of structures during earthquakes, the base isolator's horizontal, rather than vertical, deformation performance is much more important. The base isolators could reduce the horizontal acceleration to manageable levels.
