PERFORMANCE OF 20 EXTENSIVELY-INSTRUMENTED BUILDINGS DURING THE 1994 NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE

In the aftermath of the 17 January 1994 Northridge earthquake hundreds of strong ground motion and building response accelerograms were retr ieved from stations throughout the greater Los Angeles basin. Particul arly important among the building response records were the data obtai ned from instrumented buildings which experienced relatively large gro und motions. This paper provides a summary of the results obtained fro m an elaborate two-year project which included inspection of the build ings, damage assessment and performance evaluations. The forces, displ acements and dynamic characteristics interpreted from recorded data ar e contrasted with those suggested by building codes. Key response para meters and characteristics of each building are studied and where nece ssary observations are provided which may be used to improve future ed itions of the building codes. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.