Photos Call for Seismic Engineering

There is perhaps no more stunning example of the destructive power unleashed by a natural disaster than that of the before-and-after photos recently compiled by Google "Street View" of Japan's devastating March 2010 earthquake and its resulting tsunami. The "Street View" photography vehicle logged in more than 27,000 miles of devastated commercial and residential infrastructure, literary taking you inside the ground zero of seismic activity. The photos contain "before" images such as a perfectly intact and functioning urban center, and what moments later became "after" photos that display a wasteland of destruction.

The photos are more than just a study about the destructive forces of nature. They are evidence that commercial infrastructure constructed on or near areas of seismic activity require earthquake resistant and/or earthquake-proof engineering. The world's leading engineers will no doubt be studying these photographs for years to come. Comments?

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