Quake tests looks for ways to shore up hospitalss

Quake tests looks for ways to shore up hospitalss

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Structural engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have begun a series of tests subjecting a five-story building on a shake table to simulated earthquakes.

The tests under way today are designed to determine what happens inside a hospital with an intensive care unit, operating room and elevator.

The first test simulated the motion created by the magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that heavily damaged the Los Angeles region in 1994.

Other experiments will include a simulation of the motion from the magnitude-8.8 quake that struck Chile in 2010.