Background: On 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan in China, and resulted in the casualties of thousands of people. Some of the hospitalized earthquake victims can occur pulmonary infection. However, few studies have been conducted on the clinical features of pulmonary infection in hospitalized casualty after Wenchuan Earthquake....

In this paper, earthquake-resistance behaviors of existing masonry structures are evaluated based on a certain masonry building. The existing masonry structure is evaluated in its defects of primary design and construction measurements, seismic bearing capacity and durability. Based on results of evaluation, the seismic reinforcement design is introduced for improving earthquake-resistance beha...

Friction plays a key role in how ruptures unzip faults in the Earth's crust and release waves that cause destructive shaking. Yet dynamic friction evolution is one of the biggest uncertainties in earthquake science. Here we report on novel measurements of evolving local friction during spontaneously developing mini-earthquakes in the laboratory, enabled by our ultrahigh speed full-field imaging...

When a specific building is examined and analysed for its architectural merits, it is the visible, superficial aspects, which are considered, for example: aesthetics, function, spatial relationships, and landscape. One of the most important invisible factors that should be considered in the design process is the safety of buildings against natural hazards, particularly against earthquakes. Whil...

When a specific building is examined and analysed for its architectural merits, it is the visible, superficial aspects, which are considered, for example: aesthetics, function, spatial relationships, and landscape. One of the most important invisible factors that should be considered in the design process is the safety of buildings against natural hazards, particularly against earthquakes. Whil...

Experience of the March 11 2011, Great Tohoku earthquake clearly demonstrated that the earthquakes might be the dominating contributors to the overall risk of nuclear power plants (Institute of Nuclear Power Operations [INPO], 2011); International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], 2007). The seismic probabilistic safety assessments of several nuclear power plants also provided similar results. On th...

BACKGROUND Public education is one of the most important elements of earthquake preparedness. The present study identifies methods and appropriate strategies for public awareness and education on preparedness for earthquakes based on people's opinions in the city of Tehran. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study and a door-to-door survey of residents from 22 municipal districts in Tehran, t...