Lessons learned from reconstruction following a disaster : enhancement of regional seismic safety attained after the 1976 Tangshan, China earthquake

Comparing an estimated death toll in the reconstructed environment of Tangshan in 1991 with the actual deaths in the 1976 earthquake, we evaluated the enhancements in seismic safety attained during the recontruction. It was found that while the most severely affected area was remarkably improved, the less severely affected ara was not rebuilt to the standards of the most severely affected area. The increased safety of the most severely affected area can be attributed to the reinforced concrete elements of the buildings. The hazardous situation in the less severely affected area is due the collapsible nature of the unreinforced masonry construction (AU)