Indonesia is one of the most countries in the world that are vulnerable to earthquakes. Indonesian islands are in line with the shift line between Australian and Pacific tectonic plate. The shift of these two tectonic plates often causes the occurrence of a tectonic earthquake.

Apart from that, there are more than 400 volcanic mountains in Indonesia, where 100 of them are active and have the potential to cause volcanic earthquakes. In fact, Indonesia endures three vibrations each day, at least one earthquake each day and one volcanic mountain explosion each year.

Earthquake Resistant Planning Principles
 
As one of the countries that are vulnerable to earthquakes, house residence and building construction has to meet the earthquake resistant planning principles.

Ductility

House residences and buildings and all earthquake resistant elements has to be planned and detailed to make them ductile. A building structure is considered ductile if it meets the requirements of and is planned according to the capacity planning principles and suits the planning guidance that has been set.
 
Building Shape Configuration

A building’s horizontal and vertical shape configuration, whenever possible, is supposed to be as symmetrical as possible toward the building’s mass centre. This is to avoid the earthquake power being accumulated in certain points of the building structure.

Horizontal Configuration                                             Vertical Configuration
 
 
Undesirable                 Preferred                                 Undesirable                 Preferred

Diaphragm and Floor Ties

The horizontal or diaphragm ties system on each level of upper stories must be planned to distribute the level’s shift loads caused by an earthquake to earthquake resistant elements on that level, equivalent to each of its lateral stiffness.
 
Connection between interstory walls and the roof

Concrete walls and couple walls must be anchored to all floors and the roof. This is required in order to produce horizontal support or stability toward those walls.
 
Connection Between Foundations

Foundations of a building must have two-way connection, which are usually in 90-degree angle toward each other and are related by connector elements, which are supposed to have pull and push axial power 10% from the maximum vertical load in one of the connected foundation in the case of earthquake.

Light Weight

Manufactured using German technology, Hebel aerated lightweight concrete is one of the available solutions for earthquake risk reduction.

Because of its light weight, the earthquake power received by a building is much lower. This is because the earthquake power received by a building depends on the earthquake acceleration and the total weight of the building itself. The heavier a building weighs, the more it has to endure the earthquake power.

    F = m . a
 
    F  = earthquake power received by the building
    m = mass or total weight of building
    a  = earthquake acceleration
 

A Comparation of Materials’ Weight

Uniform Strength In Every Direction

When an earthquake occurs, building walls experience not only vertical load, but also horizontal or diagonal load.
Hebel aerated lightweight concrete blocks that are glued with thin adhesive like Prime Mortar PM – 100 has a relatively similar strength in every direction, compared to red brick walls.

This causes Hebel walls have better endurance during earthquakes.

Below is an illustration of Hebel walls strength compared to brick walls in vertical, horizontal, and diagonal direction.

Result of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal push-off test of Hebel wall couple, glued with thin adhesive.

Result of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal push-off test of terracotta brick wall couple, glued with conventional cement-sand mixture.

Fireproof

An earthquake is often followed by fire. This is caused by the possibilties of happenings such as the falling of a stove, candles or lamps, short circuit in electrical installation, etc, which can result in a fire.

Compared to other alternative lightweight material such as wood, Hebel aerated lightweight concrete has a higher level of fire resistance. In several countries, using Hebel aerated lightweight concrete enables clients to reduce their fire insurance premium.
 
 

Hebel aerated lightweight concrete have been used for a long time in countries with high vulnerability to earthquakes such as Japan, (Turq), and Mexico. Hebel aerated lightweight concrete has been proven as one of the best solutions for earthquake risk reduction in many countries.