Quake proof your home

The one thing that you learn living in a place like Wellington is that an earthquake can strike at any time, without any warning of course. And so, the most you can do is to prepare for it by stocking up on water and food supplies, batteries, first aid stuff etc. And the other thing that you learn is that if a quake strikes when you are indoors, you are most likely to get hurt from a falling object or roof or wall. Now, the good guys at EQC remind us time and time again to "Fix, fasten, forget". In other words, to attach all cupboards, tallboys etc. to the walls so that they don't move around in a quake. But, what about the walls and especially the roof? What can you do about the actual structure of the house?

Well, this is where I come in. Have you ever noticed that if a quake or a tornado hits a house, usually all that's left of the house is the pillars on the corners while the rest just collapses?? Well, this is so because that's the strongest part of the house right, 'cos that's where all the iron pillars etc are. So, it would make perfect sense to simply build the entire house with this stuff as it would be a stronger house? Well maybe, but if this "strong house" were to collapse then the extra iron in the roof could possibly do a lot more damage than a conventional roof would.

So, what I wanted to suggest was to simply build houses the way they are built at the moment, but have a fine protective metal mesh (like a fishing net) running between the pillars completely covering the walls and rooves. The net could be made of steel or titanium and would be slightly bigger than needed to cover the wall/roof. In the event of a quake the entire house will move and the walls might even collapse but the net or mesh wouldn't, as it would be large enough to encompass that extra movement. And it would also be build so that it's strong enough to hold the weight of the entire roof (or wall). So, even though the entire roof might collapse, the mesh would hold all the pieces together hanging above your head and hence, possibly saving a few lives. Even if this mesh can hold up the house for an extra few seconds, it could make a big difference in who gets out and who doesn't. In fact, it would be a bit like the windscreen glass in card that break but don't smash, i.e although the glass snaps into little pieces, all the pieces stay together in one piece and don't spread all over the place. So, a house built using this new structure would get it's shape from the usual wood, bricks etc but would get that extra protection from "The Mesh".

I am actually quite serious about this little concept, but until the time the local architects and builders get their act together and build us safer homes, please do visit the EQC website and "Fix, fasten, forget!".