How Logical Is It to Have an “Earthquake Cabin” Built in Your Home?

The most important plan that people should make in the short term is to prepare for an earthquake. In other words, you need to hide in a durable area of ​​the house with your earthquake bag during an earthquake. Based on this idea, earthquake cabins started to become popular. We even shot a video about earthquake cabins in the past days.

Today, according to the information we have obtained from civil engineers, this earthquake cabin We will talk about the pros and cons. These earthquake cabins, which are generally made of high-thickness iron that can lift weight, aim to keep you alive even if the building collapses in the event of an earthquake. Although it looks very logical from the outside, of course it has some disadvantages. If you have an idea to make such a cabin in your mind, this content will help you.

How are earthquake cabins made?

The purpose of earthquake cabins is to withstand the weight caused by the collapse of the building at the time of collapse. keeping people alive. For this, generally NPI Profile irons which are called high weight lifting capacity are used. According to the thickness of these irons, the carrying capacity also increases. (Some steel construction materials can also be used) Of course, the weight you will apply to that part of the building increases with the same rate.

Depending on how many floors are on it, the carrying capacity of these cabins should be calculated. It may not be enough to put these pole-shaped irons on all four sides and try to hide in the event of an earthquake. For this reason, on the 6 surfaces of the cabinet, which is essentially a cube, this Iron must be used extensively. This causes a large amount of load to be placed on a single point.

Do earthquake cabins damage the building?

These cabins, which can weigh tons, can protect the people inside. At least during an earthquake It can increase the chance of survival from 5 percent to 20-30 percent (maybe even higher). (It varies according to how the earthquake happened, how the building collapsed, and many other parameters.) In this question we asked the civil engineer, we got the answer that it can cause some problems in houses that are not suitable for building earthquake cabins.

At this point, the main issue to be considered is; to correctly decide in which part of the house the cabin will be built. Putting such a load close to the exterior of the house can harm weight balance and may cause the building to suffer faster and greater damage during an earthquake. For this reason, if you are going to make such a cabin, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that it is close to the center of the house. In addition, since it will put extra load on the carrier columns, weight calculations by experts Let me also point out that it should be done.

While the earthquake cabin saves your life, it can harm your neighbor’s life.

We know that the main problem in earthquake cabins is weight. These cabins, which increase your chances of saving lives, can be used in the event of an earthquake. it will go down fast. In other words, while trying to carry the weight on it, it will put extra weight on the bottom. For example, let’s say that the neighbor below you found a life triangle at the time of the earthquake. This earthquake cabin, can break this area by giving weight to the area with the triangle of life and may cause death of your neighbor. For this reason, such systems should be installed according to the places recommended by the experts and the condition of your building.

Let’s think like this, an earthquake cabin should weigh at least 600 kg. In most cases this weight will be much higher. A refrigerator, on the other hand, is in the range of 120-150 kg on average. Well put 4 refrigerators in one spot you will be.

Does it make sense to build an earthquake cabin in the entire apartment?

Castle Seismic Structure

The apartment may want to come together and have an earthquake cabin built in the same area. After all, we are all trying to be prepared for an earthquake, but there is an important detail at this point. There is a limit to the weight capacity of the load-bearing columns. For example, you have 10 earthquake cabins built in the same area in a 10-storey building. These cabins weight applied to the columns. It needs to be calculated very well.

In this regard, we asked civil engineers what effect it would have on the durability of the building if everyone had earthquake cabins built in the same area, reaching all the way to the ceiling. With the answer we got; earthquake cabin, building if it is not connected to the foundation and carrier irons We learned that it will not be beneficial, even harmful.

Can earthquake cabins be installed as standard in new buildings?

In the construction of new buildings, although it seems rational to add earthquake cabins to the general plan of the building, the newly built buildings should already be strong, but since we know that new buildings were destroyed in the last earthquakes, people cannot feel safe in this regard.

In fact, at a central point, specially fortified, placed to be connected to the foundation and columns earthquake cabins can contribute to the durability of the building. In addition, as it is calculated in advance, no extra load is placed on the carrier columns. In fact, since a weight will be placed in the middle of the building, it can even reduce the lateral throws of the building during an earthquake. Of course, all of these need to be investigated in detail by experts. In addition, it should not be forgotten that if it is added to every building, it will increase the cost.

How many tons does the earthquake cabin need to be durable?

According to the calculations, a 10-storey building, each floor of which is 100 square meters, It has an average weight of 1300 tons excluding the foundation. In other words, the average weight of each floor is about 130 tons. 50-60 tons of this weight directly forms the ground. In other words, a building weighing more than 1000 tons will collapse on a person sitting on the ground floor. However, although it may vary according to the shape of the earthquake, the entire weight of the building will not be distributed over a single point, but according to the collapse surface area. In other words, all this weight will not collapse on the earthquake cabin you will build.

For this reason, when making an earthquake cabin, it is necessary to know what kind of weight you have on you and to design accordingly. It is extremely important to strengthen all 6 surfaces of this cabin with earthquake resistant NPI profile irons. Because during an earthquake, this cabin can tilt or directly turn upside down. For this reason, all surfaces must be capable of supporting the weight. According to the calculations, this earthquake cabins can lift an average of 60 tons of load. If the load on you is too much, that is, if you are on lower floors, earthquake cabins resistant to 100 tons and above can be preferred.

Conclusion: Do earthquake cabins make sense?

Building an earthquake cabin can increase your chances of surviving an earthquake. This reason alone makes these cabins logical. Instead of having this cabin built on a whim, take the blueprints of your building and learn how to do it. You need to consult experts. In addition, if there are people living under you, it is extremely important to inform them that you are planning to do such a thing.

The planning and placement of these earthquake cabins, which started to become popular after the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, with expert civil engineers is of great importance for both your life and the lives of other people in your building. We hope you will never need such a structure, but we need to accept that our lives are dangerous in these buildings and find ways to reverse this situation.