Purdue engineers work to create a more quake-ready world

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It's a natural disaster that can have catastrophic consequences with very little warning time.

Though not frequent to the Midwest, earthquakes are a risk to all Hoosiers.

We visited Purdue University's Great Shakeout Lab where engineers and students are testing and collecting data about real world structures in order to create a more quake-ready world.

Purdue University engineers and students are conducting simulations this week in order to make the world better prepared for earthquakes.

From scaled bridges, buildings and an old interstate truss, they're all are being shaken and tested to see what improvements can be made to create a safer infrastructure.

"The structures we have here in the lab are intended to represent typical structures,” Purdue engineering professor Shirley Dyke said. “The goal is to investigate how those structures respond, how we can better design those structures."

"From the sensory information we captured, we are going to analyze the natural frequency of the structure,” engineering student Gaby Ou.

The natural frequency of the structure can be used to determine the point at which the vibrations sent from earthquake will cause damage.

Experiments and data are collected here at Bowen Laboratory, part of Purdue University, but the data can be viewed worldwide. In fact, the data they collect here is actually sent out in real time.

"There are many researchers working in the area of earthquake and tsunami hazards. We all really try to work together,” Dyke said. “The research we do here complements the work done in other laboratories."

All of who work in the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, or NEES.

Their research can be helpful locally.

Feb. 7 marks the 201st anniversary of the 1812 New Madrid Earthquakes.

Geologists say the New Madrid earthquake zone is one of the nation’s most potentially destructive seismically active areas, and Indiana falls in the heart of it.

"It's important for us to be prepared,” Dyke said. “We shouldn't be worried every single day about this type of event, but if it does occur, and frequently it occurs, we should be prepared when it does happen."