structural: Weak story Vs. Soft story
Hello,
Can someone explains the difference between weak story and soft story?
there was this question on Elif's PPD quiz, explaining as below which is not really clear to me.
Thanks in advance!
Tara
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This building, damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake, suffered the “soft-story problem” where the first floor lacks the stiffness of the floors above. When the building begins shaking, the spindly building legs fail. The problem is compounded because it is a corner building, with two storefront sides.
In that earthquake, six of the seven collapsed buildings in San Francisco’s Marina district were just like this one: four-story tall, corner buildings, with first-floor parking garages.
To your original question, what is the difference between a “soft story” and a “weak story?” Not much, as far as photo identification is concerned. Soft stories are less stiff than the story above; weak stories are weaker than the story above. Both are common in first-floor-parking or large-bay storefront conditions. I see a lot of chatter online from those worried about understanding the difference between these two. . . this is not worth worrying about as the exam is unlikely to ask you to differentiate them.
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