Seismic wallpaper - protecting old and vulnerable buildings.

Bayer MaterialScience, in collaboration with scientists from other agencies, have developed a material EQ-Top that can be applied to the walls of vulnerable buildings to give them additional strength.

The "wallpaper" is made from a glass fibre fabric combined with a special adhesive. In combination they increase the stability of masonry and reduce the risk of death or injury from structural failure. It is claimed the material is as easy to apply as wallpaper.

In the New Zealand context an earthquake-report.com article quotes a German researcher, Moritz Urban:
“In the New Zealand quake in early 2011, a great many walls crumbled and many houses collapsed completely as a result,” says KIT researcher Moritz Urban. The scientist estimates that the system could have prevented 60 to 70 percent of the damage. “Often it doesn't take much to prevent the collapse of a building,” Urban says.
There is more information about this material on earthquake-report.com here and news.discovery.com here. Bayer Research have information here (with a PDF of product details) and here.

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