Seismic design provisions and guidelines in the United States: A prologue

Seismic design provisions and guidelines are the basis for reduction of potentially devastating losses of life and property from earthquakes. Six tragic earthquakes since 1985, affecting Mexico, Armenia, the United States, Japan, Turkey, and Taiwan, caused combined property losses exceeding $320 billion and loss of lives exceeding 143,900. These losses emphasize the need to improve the earthquake resistance of the built environment in zones of high seismic risk. With present population exceeding 290 million in major earthquake zones and world population expected to increase by 2 to 4 billion people in the next 50 years, losses from future earthquakes can be expected to reach even greater levels if worldwide improvements in earthquake resistance are not made.