Reducing Seismic Risk in a Rural School Building in Peru

This presentation will summarize the work conducted by a group of Stanford students and faculty who, collaborating with the Catholic University of Peru, and two non-profit organizations, to perform the seismic retrofit of a school building in Chocos a small population in the mountains of Peru. Similarly to 35% of houses in Peru the school building is made of adobe which is an extremely vulnerable material. The presentation will summarize the vulnerability of this type of construction and how the retrofit technique used in the school building works to reduce the probability of collapse during earthquakes. The presentation will also summarize the survey and training that was conducted in the town.

Eduardo Miranda was born and raised in Mexico. He obtained his Civil Engineering degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and MS and PhD degrees in Structural Engineering at UC Berkeley. He specializes in Earthquake Engineering. In particular his research involves understanding the dynamics of buildings during earthquakes and developing ways to reduce the risk of collapse and control the level of seismic damage.