Understanding Nonstructural Damage from Earthquakes

When we think about earthquakes, we tend to focus on buildings collapsing. However, it’s important to remember that nonstructural damage is just as critical, especially when it comes to people’s safety, property protection, and maintaining functionality of organizations and communities.

So, what is nonstructural damage, and why should it matter?

Nonstructural components include all parts of a building that aren’t directly responsible for holding the building up. These include everything designed and installed after the structural frame is built. While these components may seem secondary, they are essential for a building’s day-to-day functionality and can become major sources of damage and disruption during seismic events.

Nonstructural damages can include:

1. Architectural Components?

These are elements that contribute to the look, feel, and basic operation of the building. Think of partitions, ceilings, storefronts, veneers, glazing, fences, chimneys, and more.

Damage to these elements during an earthquake can range from aesthetic (like cracking walls) to life-threatening (like falling ceilings).

2. Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) Components?

These are the systems that keep the building running. MEP components often include Pumps, chillers, and fans, air handling units and motor control centers, ductwork, piping and more.

A failure in MEP systems can lead to cascading issues. For example, damaged ductwork could affect ventilation, or a broken transformer could cut off power, leading to functional downtime and safety risks.

3. Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E)?

These are movable items that make up the building’s contents, such as computers and desktop equipment, industrial chemicals or hazardous materials, retail merchandise, museum artifacts, and collectibles, wall-mounted TVs, file cabinets, and medical records, whelving, bookcases, and storage racks.

These items are particularly vulnerable to seismic shaking, where they might slide, tip, or fall over, causing significant property damage, interrupting operations, or creating safety hazards.

Business Finances

Nonstructural damage can disrupt operations, leading to significant downtime and lost revenue. MEP failures, equipment loss, or even blocked access to workspaces can extend recovery time and worsen financial impacts.

Industrial and office equipment are highly susceptible to damage from earthquakes. Replacing or repairing essential machinery, computers, and other items can be costly, with ripple effects across business operations.

Following nonstructural damage, companies may need to file large insurance claims for property loss, equipment replacement, and business interruption. High deductibles and policy limitations could increase out-of-pocket expenses, affecting financial recovery.

Human safety

Earthquakes pose significant risks to human health and safety. Many injuries and fatalities occur from falling or dislodged nonstructural elements. Items like ceiling tiles, lighting fixtures, or heavy furniture can topple, creating hazardous conditions for building occupants. Shelving units, unanchored equipment, and glass partitions can shatter or fall, putting people at risk of being struck or trapped. Even smaller items, such as monitors or books, can cause harm when they become projectiles during strong shaking.

Additionally, the disruption of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems can create safety concerns. For instance, damaged gas lines may lead to leaks or fires, and severed electrical systems can cause power outages that hamper rescue efforts. Hazardous materials stored in industrial facilities or laboratories may spill, exposing people to toxic substances. ?

How Nonstructural Damage Occurs

Nonstructural damage occurs primarily due to the motion and deformation caused by an earthquake. There are four key ways in which ground shaking impacts these components:

1. Inertial Effects?

This refers to the movement or shaking that causes components to slide, rock, or overturn. For example, a bookshelf may sway, lose balance, and fall if not properly anchored.

2. Building Deformations?

As the building deforms during seismic shaking, nonstructural components that are connected to the structure may be damaged. An example is a ceiling grid becoming misaligned as the building flexes.

3. Separation or Pounding Between Structures?

In cases where separate structures are connected (such as two wings of a building), differential movement may occur. Nonstructural elements like piping or ductwork that span the two structures could be damaged as the structures move independently.

4. Interaction Between Adjacent Components?

Damage may also occur when nonstructural components interact with each other during shaking. For instance, light fixtures might collide with suspended ceiling tiles, causing damage to both.

Classifying Nonstructural Damage

When assessing nonstructural damage, engineers, building owners, and facility managers often evaluate it using three important criteria:

1. Life Safety (LS)?- Could anyone be hurt by this component in an earthquake??

?This is the most crucial consideration, as falling components like heavy light fixtures or ceiling tiles can lead to injury or even death during an earthquake.

2. Property Loss (PL)?- Could the damage to this component result in significant property loss??

Damage to expensive machinery, electronics, or valuable artifacts can lead to financial loss. Commercial buildings with high-value assets need to account for this risk.

3. Functional Loss (FL)?- Could losing this component cause an outage or business interruption??

In critical facilities like hospitals or data centers, even a small disruption in nonstructural systems could cripple operations. For instance, damage to electrical systems could leave essential services without power for extended periods.

Why Nonstructural Damage Matters

Clearly, nonstructural damage isn’t just about aesthetics or comfort—it’s about safety, loss prevention, and business continuity.

SeismicAI offers an earthquake early warning that can reduce nonstructural damage by up to 50%. For organizations, this can mean the difference between minor disruptions and major setbacks in terms of finances, team and customer safety, property loss, and operational downtime.

By minimizing nonstructural damage, SeismicAI not only protects lives but also ensures that organizations and communities can recover faster and more efficiently after an earthquake. In an increasingly unpredictable world, this kind of resilience is more important than ever.

Learn more about SeismicAI at www.seismicai.com

Information source - Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage – A Practical Guide - FEMA