Earthquake Safety – It’s Yours In A Monolithic Dome!

Shake, Rattle and Roll

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) describes itself as “… an unbiased, multi-disciplinary science organization … dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the landscape, our natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten us.” And that includes earthquakes.

On its website http://www.thehorizonproject.com/earthquakes.cfm the USGS offers a graph showing a dramatic increase in large earthquakes, from 6 through 8 on the Richter Scale. This is a ten-fold increase in the last ten years. In fact, the graph indicates almost as many earthquakes of major proportion in the first eight years of the 21st Century as occurred in all of the 20th Century.

No Warning and No Time

Unlike tornadoes and hurricanes, earthquakes do not foretell their arrival. They just arrive – without warning!

According to USGS, neither it “nor Caltech nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake. They do not know how, and they do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future.”

When an earthquake strikes there is no time to go to an earthquake shelter. You are either in a building that will shelter you, or you are not.

Earthquake-safe in a Monolithic Dome

In simple terms, a Monolithic Dome will keep you and your loved ones safe during an earthquake. The dome has no moment connections – those points at which a wall meets a roof or a floor attaches to a wall. An earthquake can and often does disconnect those moment connections. They just come apart.

But a Monolithic Dome is more like an upside-down bowl, with zero connections to fatigue or disconnect. In general, an earthquake will put no more pressure on a dome than a good snow load.

Preparedness

The number of people killed by earthquakes is huge. Because they strike without warning and create massive destruction, they must be prepared for ahead of time.

Just in the last few days, here in the Dallas area, we had three earthquakes. They were small, but they were not supposed to be here at all.

The worst earthquake to hit the United States was the New Madrid, Missouri earthquake of 1812.

According to historical data, that area has an earthquake about every two hundred years. That’s something to think about. An earthquake on the Mississippi, if it does the damage it did some two hundred years ago, would disrupt our country’s entire economic system.

Obviously, we can’t go to bed scared of boogeymen in the night. Nevertheless, if you go to bed in a Monolithic Dome you will not have to worry about earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, or even sharp temperature changes.

June 10, 2009