Is the Prefabricated Panel House Earthquake-Resistant?

The earthquake resistance performance of prefabricated panel houses is insufficient, and their overall earthquake resistance is lower than that of reinforced cast-in-place houses. The following provides a detailed explanation from three aspects: earthquake resistance capacity, structural defects, and differences in houses from different eras.

Limited Earthquake Resistance Capacity

Prefabricated panel houses can generally withstand earthquakes of around magnitude 6. However, the 'magnitude 6' here refers to the earthquake magnitude, while building earthquake-resistant design focuses more on earthquake intensity. Old prefabricated panel houses built before the 1980s usually can only withstand an earthquake intensity of 6 degrees, while newly built prefabricated panel houses can reach 7 degrees. In contrast, reinforced cast-in-place houses, due to their good structural integrity, can withstand higher-intensity earthquakes in earthquake-resistant design, providing more reliable safety guarantees for occupants. For example, in some earthquake-prone areas, reinforced cast-in-place houses with strict earthquake-resistant design can still maintain relatively intact structures and reduce casualties and property losses when encountering strong earthquakes.

Structural Defects

Prefabricated panel houses are assembled from individual prefabricated panels, similar to assembling building blocks. Their overall integrity is poor, and the connections between the prefabricated panels are not strong enough. Under the action of seismic waves, relative displacements are likely to occur, causing the house structure to become loose and collapse. When an earthquake occurs, the house is subjected to horizontal and vertical seismic forces. The connection parts between the prefabricated panels are easily damaged, causing the house to lose its load-bearing capacity and leading to serious consequences such as collapse. In contrast, reinforced cast-in-place houses form an integral structural system by pouring concrete on-site and tightly combining the steel bars with the concrete, enabling them to better resist seismic forces and maintain structural stability.

Differences in Houses from Different Eras

Prefabricated panel houses built before the 1980s had weaker earthquake resistance performance due to the limitations of building technology and material levels at that time. As time goes by, the aging problems of these houses have become increasingly serious, further reducing their earthquake resistance capacity. Although newly built prefabricated panel houses have adopted new technologies and materials to a certain extent and improved the earthquake intensity standards, they still have gaps in overall integrity and earthquake resistance performance compared with reinforced cast-in-place houses.