Researchers test straw house for earthquake resilience

They say that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. What if they lived a straw house? A University of Nevada, Reno graduate who is a civil engineer hopes data from an earthquake simulation experiment Friday will one day lead to a more affordable method of home building for low-income residents in other countries.

Darcey Donovan and a group of engineers placed a full-scale straw house on a “shake table” inside the university’s earthquake lab to determine how much force it could withstand in an earthquake. “Our goal is to provide an affordable earthquake-safe structure,” said Donovan, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building.

Donovan has been building straw bale houses in Pakistan for earthquake-displaced citizens since 2006. She said she was inspired to act after a 2005 quake in that country killed about 1,000 people. The 14-by-14-foot straw house she built for the experiment used a gravel foundation and clay plaster walls. The experiment began about 10 a.m. Friday and continued into the afternoon as engineers increased the shaking in 25 percent increments.

The standard used was the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake, which measured a 6.7 magnitude.

Donovan said the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute nonprofit organization provided a grant for the study. The Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation also provided support. Ian Buckle, a UNR civil and environmental engineering professor and the lab’s director, said he welcomed Friday’s experiment. “To be able to use this lab to enhance the safety of houses in developing countries is a huge opportunity for us,” Buckle said. “Testing is important and crucial to prove that this is a safe method of construction.”