Seismic barrier protection of critical infrastructure

Each year, on average a major magnitude-8 earthquake strikes somewhere in the world. In addition, 10,000 earthquake related deaths occur annually, where collapsing buildings claim by far most lives. Moreover, in recent events, industry activity of oil extraction and wastewater reinjection are suspected to cause earthquake swarms that threaten high-value oil pipeline networks, U.S. oil storage reserves, and civilian homes. Earthquake engineering of building structural designs and materials have evolved over many years to minimize the destructive effects of seismic surface waves. However, even under the best engineering practices, significant damage and numbers of fatalities can still occur.