Recommended Practices—Seismic Regions

While the most severe and frequent earthquakes have occurred in California and portions of Alaska and Hawaii, damaging earthquake activity has been experienced in many other parts of the United States. We have seen the major amounts of damage that can occur in a very short period of time. Although rare, very strong quakes can give rise to tsunamis that cause their own damage and fatalities. Just as for high wind and flood prone regions, the International Residential Code (IRC) maps seismic risk regions of the United States and prescribes minimum construction and design requirements for those buildings constructed in high risk areas. However, there are some modestly priced measures which builders and designers can apply to provide added seismic protection to meet or exceed code.