The Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake of October 1, 1987—Performance of Tilt-up Buildings

Abstract

In the 1971 San Fernando earthquake the general performance of tilt-up structures was poor, and a number of collapses occurred. After this event substantial changes were made to seismic code provisions governing the design and construction of these buildings. The October 1, 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake produced strong shaking (up to Modified Mercalli Intensity VIII) in an area containing thousands of tilt-up buildings of various ages. This recent earthquake thereby provided the first significant test of these new provisions.