Re: East Coast Earthquake 8-23-2011

[Sean Donelan <sean () donelan com>]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2011, Roy wrote:
> Many years ago I was taught that "earthquake proof" means the building 
> doesn't kill the occupants and not that the structure survives unscathed.. 
> As examples, they used a hospital that was damaged in the magnitude 6.6 
> Sylmar quake of 1971  The building was basically destroyed but only four 
> people were killed.

Architects tend to use the term earthquake resistant now.

Also there is a expected performance difference between "Essential 
Facilities" and "Ordinary Facilities."

Essential Facility: Buildings and other structures that are intended to 
remain operational in the event of extreme environmental loading from 
flood, wind, snow or earthquakes.

Relatively few facilities in a community are considered essential 
facilities such as police, fire and hospitals with emergency rooms.

Internet Exchange Facilities are usually not considered "essential 
facilities" by local building codes.  So it would be a voluntary upgrade
by the facility owners (and their customers) to meet higher building
standards.  Your cloud provider may have a different view of acceptable
risk than you.

As always consult with a licensed architect in your jurisdiction.