Why is seismic isolation important for family houses?
This is the most vulnerable building in terms of earthquake destructive effects, this is mainly because the costs of building a house (social interest, average interest, etc.) must be maximized to make the construction profitable to the developer, so in many cases, the structure would not be able to withstand a medium or large magnitude earthquake, so it can result in a very severe structural damage in the best case.
Frequently, a house represents the total wealth of its users, so if it is damaged or collapses, the property user or owners, in addition to losing or getting affected their patrimony, their economy will be affected due to the cost of repair or reconstruction, without counting the expenses for provisional lodging.
In Mexico, September 2017 earthquakes costs in repair and reconstruction of housing exceed 90 billion pesos (4.74 billion dollars) representing 1% of national GDP and at least 250,000 families were affected in their patrimony.
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The seismic isolation system allows significant reductions in earthquake-generated movements ranging from 70% to 90%; that's why the structure practically does not feel the effects of the earthquake, thus protecting its occupants and their contents, the structural and non-structural elements, and ensuring building's operational continuity after the earthquake.
A residential development that incorporates a seismic isolation system, offers an added value to the buyer of that construction in terms of structural safety concerns since the client will be acquiring a building that, when facing an earthquake, will have a greater chance of keeping standing and operating than one that has no seismic isolation system.
Reductions in displacement and accelerations translate in less risk to people's lives, lower risk of structural and non-structural damage to the building, property contents' greater security, and therefore it guarantees that they will be able to continue inhabiting it after the telluric event has elapsed.
