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NON-ENGINEERED CONSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES –AN
APPROACH TOWARD EARTHQUAKE RISK PREDUCTION
Anand S ARYA1
SUMMARY
The paper first discusses some issues in regard to earthquake risk reduction of Non-engineered
buildings, such as : Earthquake risk in developing countries and its management, the IDNDR –
Yokoyama message emphasising on pre-disaster mitigation and preparedness, earthquake damage
reduction initiatives taken such as preparation of building codes and guidelines and disaster
mitigation for sustainable development. Then, the major causes of severe damage observed in nonengineered buildings in the past earthquakes are presently briefly and critical elements to be
incorporated in new constructions are highlighted. Methodology for seismic retrofitting of stone
houses developed, implemented and verified by the author in the field is introduced. Next, costs
and benefits of earthquake prevention measures are indicated. Finally a practically feasible and
economically viable scheme of earthquake resistant new building construction and seismicretrofitting of existing unsafe buildings is outlined.
INTRODUCTION
The non-engineered buildings considered in this paper are those which are spontaneously and informally
constructed in various countries in the traditional manner without any or little intervention by qualified architects
and engineers in their design. Such buildings involve field stone, fired brick, concrete blocks, adobe or rammed
earth, wood or a combination of these traditional locally available materials in the wall construction. Cement,
lime or clay mud are used for the mortars. Reinforced concrete lintels and floor and roof slabs and beams are
also used. In some cases, use of reinforced concrete or steel columns and beams is also made particularly for
shopping centres and school buildings, but here also a post-beam type simple concept is frequently adopted in a
non-engineered manner without consideration of the...