Dubai earthquake code updated | GulfNews.com

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/dubai-earthquake-code-updated-1.1183962[22/05/13 3:05:42 PM]

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Workers from buildings in Tecom had to evacuate as tremors from a strong earthquake thathit Iran could be felt in Dubai.

Dubai: The civic authorities on Wednesday issued new rules asking all newprojects to raise the threshold of buildings to withstand earthquake tremors up to5.9 on the Richter scale.

A senior official at Dubai Municipality told Gulf News that the standard wasraised as part of the authority’s aim to ensure the public’s safety and the qualityof buildings in the emirate, as a result of the increasing number of earthquakesrecorded in Iran.

Yousuf Abdullah Al Marzouqi, Acting Director of Buildings Department at DubaiMunicipality, explained that the new code is effective immediately and will becarried out in buildings under construction and those that do not have a buildingpermit from the department.

“The modifications will affect the requirements of the structural design and sectorloads related to earthquakes, while those related to wind speed have not beenchanged and remains the same,” said Al Marzouqi.

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The wind code that is now in use by the municipality states that structuresshould withstand a basic wind speed of 45 metres per second for a three-second gust, which is equivalent to 160km/h.

The seismic code was modified following a number of meetings with specialists,which resulted in modifying the code so that buildings are divided into twocategories: zones 2A and 2B. Under the previous seismic code, there was onlyzone 2A.

Dubai earthquake code updatedNew projects required to raise threshold to withstand tremors up to 5.9

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Dubai earthquake code updated | GulfNews.com

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/dubai-earthquake-code-updated-1.1183962[22/05/13 3:05:42 PM]

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According to the new regulations, zone 2A coversbuildings that have between five to 10 floors, andshould withstand tremors up to 5.5 on the Richterscale. Zone 2B covers buildings that have morethan 10 floors and are now required to withstandtremors up to 5.9 on the Richter scale.

The seismic and wind code has been under reviewsince 2009 and its last draft was based upon “basicwind speed for design in conjunction with windtunnel testing”.

In 2003, representatives from RWDI, a Canadian firm of consulting engineersand scientists, carried out a wind climate analysis. They collected data from AbuDhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Qatar.

RWDI’s findings recommended that high-rise structures should withstand a windspeed of 36.4 metres per second, but the municipality is also taking aconservative approach to the recommendation and will use a slightly highernumber of 38 metres per second.

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