UC San Diego is preparing to use its outdoor shake table in Scripps Ranch to determine whether 10-story buildings made of cold-formed steel can withstand massive earthquakes.
The height limit for buildings composed of this type of steel is currently limited to six stories — a figure that could rise to 10 if the experiments produce satisfactory results.
“Cold-formed steel is a great example of a promising lightweight, sustainable and highly durable material, ideal for use in regions of high seismic hazard and for construction of tall buildings,” UCSD structural engineering professor Tara Hutchinson said in a statement.
The experiments, which could begin as early as next week, involve repeatedly shaking a 10-story building that was constructed on top of the shake table near Interstate 15.
Hutchinson said UCSD and its collaborators will simulate earthquakes as large as the magnitude-7.8 quake that hit Turkey in 2023, killing more than 53,500 people.
Engineers also will simulate the magnitude-6.7 quake that struck the Northridge area of the San Fernando Valley in 1994, leaving 57 people dead, and the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta quake northeast of Santa Cruz that killed 63 people in 1989.
