Investigate Damage to Welded Steel Moment Frame Buildings in Earthquakes other than Northridge 

Principal Investigator: Maryann Phipps 
Degenkolb Engineers

    It is the purpose of Task 3.1.5 to identify and document specific cases where damage to welded steel moment frame (WSMF) buildings has occurred in past US earthquakes other than the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The primary activities will focus on discovering and documenting whether WSMF buildings have been damaged in other earthquakes and locations. It is intended to present anecdotal data that is complete enough to convince designers, regulators, and contractors that the problems observed in WSMF performance in the Northridge Earthquake were not due to peculiarities in local practices or the specific characteristics of this earthquake. 

The detailed breakdown of the technical activities in this task are provided in the workstatement available here.