I have personally experienced two earthquakes in my lifetime. Both occurred during my practice as a structural engineer who routinely designs building structures for seismic resistance. Witnessing the actual performance of a building during a real earthquake bridged the gap between practice and reality for me.

My first encounter with earthquakes was the magnitude 7.0 that struck the Mojave Desert, northwest of Twentynine Palms in California on October 17, 1999. It occurred between 2 am and 3 am while I was asleep in the second floor bedroom of my house in Las Vegas. Although a heavy sleeper, the shaking was intense enough to wake me up. At first, I was not sure if I was having a dream but soon realized it was an earthquake.  The image of wall mounted picture frames swaying from side to side, squeaking wall and floor noise and the sense of fear are still vivid in my mind to this day. Later that same morning, I learned that the quake caused high-rise hotels in Las Vegas to sway and jolted millions of people awake throughout southern California and Nevada.

My second experience with earthquakes was entirely different and much more recent. This time, I was at the epicenter of the 5.1 magnitude temblor that hit the Orange County, California area on March 28, 2014. I was in the lobby of a multi-story hotel, standing in line waiting to check in, when I felt the ground shake and vibrate intensely under my own feet. The jolt lasted for about 15 seconds and this time I immediately knew it was an earthquake. Although the building did not suffer any damage, I felt frightened while hotel employees carried on with their work as if nothing had just happened. Knowing that a series of after shocks usually follow, I went to bed that night with a feeling of anxiety.

Best Regards,

A seven-story wood framed condo tower was subjected to a series of earthquake simulation tests on the world's largest shake table in Japan.

World's Largest Earthquake Test

The building survived the equivalent of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake with only minor dry wall damage during the final test performed on July 14, 2009.

The "Capstone" project was headed by NEESWood, in an effort to prove new design philosophy regarding wood framed structures. The results of the experiment are believed to open the door for the possibility of increasing the height of wood framed building structures which are now limited by code to four stories. The building was designed and built by Colorado State University together with several other universities, governments and building suppliers.

Current projects under construction: 

• McCarran International Airport Terminal 1 Remodel
• Dior Store at Bellagio
• Saratoga, California High School Space Frames