Design regulations

Mongolia

Information about the seismic design regulations and building code in Mongolia is very scarce. The Mongolia Building Code, which regulates the construction of new buildings, does not seem to include specific design regulations for seismic actions. According to the Global Program for Safer Schools, “Mongolia adopted the Russian Design Codes (SNIP) in the mid-20th century but was only partially translated into Mongolian in 1998. In 2006, an illustrated commentary in Mongolian containing typical seismic details was added to the Russian Seismic Code.”

Russia

The Russian Federation encompasses a large area, the majority of which has low seismicity. However, certain areas are characterized by higher seismicity, including the North Caucasus, Far East, and Siberia.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) compiled seismic zonation maps in the years 1937, 1957, 1968, and 1978 (Mavlyanova 2019).

The 1988 Spitak earthquake affected present-day Armenia (then a part of the Soviet Union) and resulted in between 25,000-50,000 deaths. This earthquake produced ground shaking approximately 4 times higher than expected by the Soviet code implemented at the time (Luz 2000). Additionally, the seismic regulations

After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, each independent state implemented a different building code. Russia compiled another seismic zonation map in 1997, which was then modified multiple times (Mavlyanova 2019).

A recent comparison of the Russian seismic design regulations (SNiP) with other international standards highlighted areas for improvement (Maksimovna et. al. 2018). As such, the highest considered code or ductility level within the model is “moderate” for newer construction, whereas a “low” code or ductility level is assumed otehrwise.

References

Luz, E. “Some Structural Aspects of Buildings Destroyed in the Spitak Earthquake.” In Earthquake Hazard and Seismic Risk Reduction, pp. 317-324. Springer, Dordrecht, 2000. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9544-5_32

Mavlyanova, Nadira. “Contemporary Seismic Code of Russia and Other Countries of Former Soviet Union.” In Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, pp. 215-217. Springer, Cham, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01656-2_49

Maksimovna, Shatornaya Alexandra, et al. “Russian and foreign standards of seismic design of buildings and structures.” AlfaBuild 6.4 (2018): 92-114. Available at: https://alfabuild.spbstu.ru/en/article/2018.6.9/