Earthquake Resistant Hospital: Seismic Safety

SKGH is a seismically safe, base-isolated hospital. The base-isolated foundation allows the building to withstand a magnidude 7.9 class earthquake and still remain functional. Rather than placing the hospital building directly into the ground, the foundation has rolling disks that the hospital rests upon. This type of foundation will allow the hospital building to glide in any direction in the event of an earthquake. The base isolation includes 171 isolators and 28 hydraulic dampers. Dampers absorb some of the energy and reduce the shaking by some degree. With such cutting edge technologies, our hospital building is designed to withstand and an earthquake of a magnitude akin to the level of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which not only brought about devastation, but also cost many lives in Kanagawa. Shonan Kamakura General Hospital will remain open and operate fully during a catastrophic event, able to care for current patients and disaster victims.