Taquezal Buildings in Nicaragua and Their Earthquake Performance

Abstract

Taquezal is a common earthen building type in Nicaragua. It is constructed by building a wood frame and then packing the frame with mud to create thick earthen walls. The wood frame allows the structure to be constructed without the formwork (which is required for rammed earth buildings) and without first constructing blocks (which is generally required in adobe construction). The wood frame also allows a thinner wall than other earthen building types. Commonly, taquezal roofs are made of timber framing and heavy clay tile roofs. Taquezal buildings are not engineered and therefore are difficult to analyze with modern structural engineering methods. During the 1972 Managua earthquake, nearly 10,000 people died, and most of them were in taquezal buildings. This paper discusses taquezal as a structural system and applies engineering methods to this nonengineered structure. It was found that taquezal buildings perform well during low-to-moderate earthquakes if well maintained. However, if the wood is not maintained and allowed to rot, this degrades the roof diaphragm and wall supports, and the performance is considerably diminished.