Are Qatar buildings safe from Earthquakes?

Very interesting. Thanks to Ronin n Nic, esp.

bleu said "...If we had an eartquake here, I'd be happy... It would be just like snow, something that never happens here would have happened..."

Hmm.. reminds me of a query to my colleague in July 08 - whether there there was snow here during winter. He said, no but it just might, with my arrival... :P

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Beauty lies in the eyes of the beerholder.

flanostu - sources of your information pls..........

flan ssssshhhhhhhhhh don't reveal all..

"Live with passion, Die with style"

buildings here don't require earthquakes to fall over.

a pearl block is already sinking, a building close to the city centre has an unspecified lean and ezdan towers were built so quickly they could collapse any day.

nic, you have given good information.

arnott_cs, which statement of mine lead you to write that i was confused between weathering and erosion?

i very well know that they are two different phenomena..

SPEED, that area in Saudi Arabia doesn't count, it's too close to Jordan/Syria, where it does snow sometimes... It's not "in the middle of the desert"...

i am more confused than ever...

"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it." Jane Austen.

but since past few yrs we have witnessed snow in Saudi and UAE?

By God will anything is possible anywhere anytime !

quakes??? God forbid!

nicaq, now i'm TERRIFIED!!! It could happen anytime! We will all die!!!!

how sure are you?

I happened to read this and I have 2nd thought:

Earthquakes: Qatar, like most of the Gulf states, lies within an earthquake zone. Though under-evaluated, structures of any type built on landfill would be particularly susceptible to liquefaction should there be an quake epicentered in Iran or elsewhere in the region.

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=62019

Which quakes? the ones we never get? and never got in the last 10,000 years?

yes Or no?

ok nic, next time i wont bother providing input at all. clearly its not worth it. i think ur taking this convo so far off topic that we're done here.

arnott_cs,

when you say that there was a lot of mis and un-informed opinions being written, you are not being specific, leaving those who are not experts in the topic on doubt about all it was written.

If you read my posts, I did clarify the miss and un-informed opinions, but I was specific and clarified each of the wrong misconceptions with a "common language".

Although you added info is very useful, I suggest you try to be more specific in clearly pin pointing what was bad info and what was good and avoid generalizations by implying that posts above contain bad info.

Just a thought, to help those who apparent had a genuine interest on the topic!

nic -im simply stating the facts as there was a lot of mis and un-informed opinions being written. And i certainly dont think i have written anythign of a technical nature that couldnt be understood by a non-qualified person? Our reports go to clients who have no concept of the technical detail behind our conclusions so i'd say im pretty well practiced at not being condecending/patronising

arnott_cs,

Yes there are geotechnical engineers, civil engineers and architects here ;)

Just because we are professionals, doesn’t mean that we cannot use a non-technical language to explain terminology or clarify common mistakes as designating buildings earthquake-proof.

I hope this resolves your wonder ;)

rishimba - you are confusing two entirely seperate processes- weathering and erosion. the two are completely distinct from each other, occur in completely different environments and often produce different materials.

wow, apparently there are a lot more geotechnical engineers here on QL than i realised! either that or some people are just wannabe know it alls! ;)

as someone who designs foundations here in qatar here is the facts:

The Uniform Building Code (UBC - as referred to by Phoenix) classifies seismic zones from 0, with no seismic risk, to zone 4 with maximum seismic risk. In the UBC Qatar is considered to be within seismic zone 0 however the requirements of seismic zone 1 are adopted in foundation design for liquefaction assessment and structural design of high risk structures such as high rise towers, bridges etc.

in summary, the risk of poor design and un-professional construction, both of which have been discussed here on QL at length, are far greater then that posed by a seismic event.

i hope that resolves the query. ;)

rishimba - ur earlier question about the UAE: I am not 100% which UBC zone the UAE is in but I know it is higher than Qatar. I think from memory it sits on Zone 1 and therefore it is likely the local design standards require buildings to be designed to Zone 2 standards. dont quote me on that one though! ;)

just to reply to your post: Yes this is more the Wikipedia...

The discussion between they guys are very very informative and helpful for most of the people who are not experienced in this field (like me) :-D

Keep it up!

Buildings built from 2000 onwards are of poor quality.

You search the forum you will get to hear a lot about these new buildings....

Qatar has a lot of engineers. I don't think buildings built from 2000 onwards are that poor. Although Qatar doesn't experience quakes, engineers wouldn't be too irresponsible to build unstable buildings.

What's this? Wikipedia....

It seems some people have watched too much TV, and are terrified.

If we had an eartquake here, I'd be happy... It would be just like snow, something that never happens here would have happened...

rishimba,

some more clarification:

erosion - the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves, etc.

Sand is created from the weathering and erosion of rock and rock particles to a size that is between .06-2.0 mm in diameter. Sand deposits can be of quartz particles, gypsum particles, fractured obsidian, oolites, glauconite, shell or coral fragments, or other mineral or rock material.

Sand creation processes include the following steps:

Larger rock is broken down into progressively smaller and smaller particles by mostly mechanical weathering which include abrasion during transportation, freeze/thaw cycles, and fracture from gravity induced impacts.

The mechanically weathered rocks are now further weathered and reduced in size by the effects of chemical weathering, either through the chemical interactions with naturally acidic rainfall and water or from chemicals released by organisms.

At a certain size, the rock particles are easily transported and tossed about by wind and water. The abrasion of particle against particle further reduces their size. Eventually in the erosion process, the particles are carried by wind and can form dunes, or are carried by water to river banks, lakes, or seas where they can form beaches.

nic, i agree that sand is formed by erosion, which is wearing of rocks due to the action of abrasive sand suspended in the air and impingement of the same on the rocks at very acute angles. however, the initial formation of the sand is by the extreme cycles of temperatures and subsequent expansion and contraction cycles of the rocks. this is called weathering. as the rocks cant absorb the stresses due to the thermal cycles, the surface cracks and small chips come out of the rocks. these small chips further get converted to sand by the same phenomenon.

Some more clarification:

1 - Cracks seen in the walls are usually due to shrinkage of the coating material: plaster or cement render;

2 - Sand is formed by erosion;

3 - Any building whose walls are constructed with bricks will not sustain earthquakes above 5 or Richter scale, as this construction technique cannot sustain horizontal forces (provoked by earthquakes).

Concrete structures are also less effective than steel structures. In countries with a high seismic activity, steel structures are used instead of concrete. Concrete resist well at compression (vertical forces) but poorly at horizontal forces.

4 - its never accurate to say a building is earthquake prove or is not earthquake prove; its correct to say this building is designed to resist to earthquakes up to a certain value of the Richter scale;

5 - Qatar is not in a high seismic zone, however commercial buildings are designed to sustain horizontal forces (wind) equivalent to a medium-high intensity earthquake.

fatonite, good choice for you. who knows, we may bumped with each other on some hot places there alongside hottie chicks. hehehehe

cheers!!

according to my religion shakespeare, aristotle, chaucer, homer and many other of my favourite genius writers and poets are going to hell..i would prefer their company to all the boring lot headed to paradize.

"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it." Jane Austen.

some other case, the foundations are settling unevenly and thus causing some column to sink with the footing. this will cause un-even settlement which may lead to total structural collapse if sinking progresses and left undetected.

wall cracks are typically superficial in nature as most of them are built of masonry blocks and plastered. it's the plastering that may be cracking due to weathering and exposure to extreme environment (ex: high temperature and high humidity). however, there will be cases that they also crack due to exssesive sagging of beams either that which it support or that on top of it and that is a case to worry.

if you can see your concrete flooring and beams having cracks, there you must worry more.

wk, thats how the sand is formed out of the rocks....the desert sand is the proof that this part of the earth had undergone extreme cycles of heat and cold over hundreds of years.

'safe' is a relative term...no building is safe if you have a tremor of a high intensity..

but, if you find out the cracks are not surface cracks but through thickness cracks, you better point this out to your landlord and ask for renovation.

in qatar, most high rise building were designed for minimal seismic zone classifications as dictated by UBC/IBC.

but most low to mid rise are, sad to say.... are not, specially those designed using British codes.

well as they say, very least chances of earthquake occuring due to plates configurations. but with the drastic changing of weather now a days and the continuous shifting of the continental plates, one can never know what might happens next.

anyway, if armageddon do happen, where do you plan to go then?

Extreme cold in Qatar???

You got to be kidding me.

"Live with passion, Die with style"

"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it." Jane Austen.

fanonite, these cracks may be due to the weathering effect.. thats is extreme cycles of heat and cold..just like rocks are converted into sand....especially in the deserts where the cycles are extreme.

its probably the foundation type that is the bearings, the shape of the building is more important than the binding material of the walls..

i don,t think it can sustain an earthquake.

"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it." Jane Austen.

Rishimba,

What you mentioned about the "cushions", technically called bearings, is to allow horizontal movements - a crucial defense against earthquakes of any magnitude.

Just a minor technical detail in a quick way:

Buildings (or better structures) are not designed to be earthquake prove. Instead, they are designed to resist up to a certain value of force or load applied over them in certain directions.

Now, the maximum design force or load value will dictate how resistant that structure will be.

In short buildings are design to sustain a specific maximum force.

Some buildings are designed to sustain earthquakes up to 7 other 8 and others 9 in the Richter scale.

A high resistance to earthquakes (among other requirements) must ensure that the structure is designed to allow horizontal movements.

Even the sun cracks walls here.

They usually take into consideration Earthquake....when the building is Designed...

But wonder if they stick to the whole design 100%? I dont think so....

I'll answer this question after an earthquake strikes Qatar.

if we have any civil guys here in QL, they could explain the latest earth-quake proof designs generally adopted in qatar..

i know about the japanese technique of damping or cushioning the base of the building so that a sudden movement of the earth doesnt get transferred totally to the building...i believe the funda is same everywhere.

rishimba it happened in 2008 as well, we just thought that they are drilling somewhere nearby and carried on working. It turned out to be an earthquake in Iran with slight tremors in UAE.

"Live with passion, Die with style"

i remember, in dubai and abudhabi, there was a slight tremor for some 3 seconds some 4 years back....and all of us were asked to vacate the tower and stand away from the buildings.

LP, do you know if UAE is also safe like qatar?

who wants these calamities anyway. However, there are lots of things happening in the world now that we thought it could never happen. For whatever reason, the structures must be stable if not, proofwise at least from force majeurs.

Qatar is located in a "cero earthquake" zone.

But in the end those in the surroundings of this zone are not totally safe.

Nicaq maybe you are right but geologically Qatar is located in a "zero earthquake zone".

Climate change yes they are happening all over. And we have sen the outcome of thjat climate change.

Let's hope for the best

Regards!!

with these climate changes & global phenominals going on, how one can be sure Qatar will not experience earthquakes soon??

There won't be earthquakes in Qatar. The Arabian plate is secure, only the edges suffer from the collision with the Indian plate, and that's Iran and Afghanistan.

Source:

- A study Conducted by FriedUnicorn - Vol I (September,1999)

"Resident Attention Seeker"

The Doha Sheraton Hotel is earth quake proof built on some ten thousands of rubber balls. The rest of buildings is not.

...but knwoing the details which go into building construction here at Qatar;I'am sure earthquake protection measures would not have been overlooked. Might be my wishful thinking but I hope I'am right.

Thanks for posting this!!

Source:

- A study Conducted by FriedUnicorn - Vol I (September,1999)

"Resident Attention Seeker"