Current seismic codes require public buildings to be built strong enough so they don’t fall down in a quake. Now, some emergency preparedness advocates want to raise the bar. Not only should essential buildings resist collapse in a strong earthquake, but also newly constructed schools, in particular, should be built so in the immediate aftermath they can be counted on to serve as relief centers. — Oregon Capital Chronicle

“The fact of the matter is that if a tsunami occurs tomorrow, we are going to lose all of our children,” said Andrew Kelly, the superintendent of the North Beach School District, which includes Ocean Shores. Mr. Kelly is one of a growing number of local officials who are calling for a network of elevated buildings and platforms along the Northwest coast that could provide an escape for thousands of people who might otherwise be doomed in the event of a tsunami. — The New York Times

Building codes and standards in many countries require engineers to consider the effects of soil liquefaction in the design of new buildings and infrastructure such as bridges, embankment dams and retaining structures — The Guardian

“Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

In the Pacific Northwest, everything west of Interstate 5 covers some hundred and forty thousand square miles, including Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Salem (the capital city of Oregon), Olympia (the capital of Washington), and some seven million people. When the next full-margin rupture happens, that region will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America. — newyorker.com

A giant purple structure believed to be the world's first inflatable concert hall is to open on Japan's disaster-hit north eastern coast.

British sculptor Anish Kapoor and Japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the unusual Ark Nova, a balloon made of a coated polyester material that has been erected at a park in the town of Matsushima.

The structure, which organisers say is a world's first, measures about 18m and 35m wide when fully inflated with room for about 500 guests. — dailymail.co.uk

“Home for All” for Rikuzentakata is a gathering place for those who lost their homes in the tsunami-devastated city in Iwate Prefecture. The project was led by architect Toyo Ito, who collaborated with younger Japanese architects, Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto, and Akihisa Hirata. — japlusu.com

For the First Time in Four Decades Japan will shut down its last working nuclear power station this weekend, culminating — at least for now — a national shift away from nuclear energy in the aftermath of last year’s Fukushima disaster. The shutdown of the No. 3 Tomari reactor in Hokkaido will leave the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970. — e360.yale.edu

In just over two weeks, Japan will be observing the one-year anniversary of the disastrous magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck its east coast in March of 2011. [...] Photographers documented the many faces of this tragedy and have now returned to give us a look at the difference a year can make, re-shooting places that were photographed during and immediately after the quake. — theatlantic.com

Human beings and their communities are fragile because they are sustainable only within a narrow range of conditions and possibilities. It is the main task of architecture to maintain this range or to create it where it has not existed before. To some extent it is also architecture’s responsibility to expand this range when people require it not only for survival but also to flourish within the demands of change brought on by catastrophic events such as earthquake and tsunami. — lebbeuswoods.wordpress.com

I've lately been exchanging bile on this subject with a friend, a Tokyo architecture professor who, having seen off earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, is having a harder time surviving the avalanche of well-meant, if simultaneously self-serving, condescension. — smh.com.au