Editorial

Abstract

People have known about earthquakes for thousands of years. Scientists, engineers and architects accumulated their knowledge and developed concepts in order to design seismic resistant structures. Although modern seismic design codes take into account many different aspects, earthquakes are still very dangerous natural disasters that cause big human losses and yield strong damages to national economies.

Earthquake engineering is a field that is highly important for the international community for many years. Hence it requires co-operation between researchers from all over the world to share their knowledge and experience in order to prevent collapse of structures and huge losses caused by earthquakes.

This special issue provided an opportunity for researchers, working in the area of seismic design and related fields, to share the updated knowledge on seismic activity, its consequences and modern techniques for reducing the effects of earthquakes on structures. Experts, dealing with various aspects of the field, were invited to present the latest achievements in their work to provide a broad view of the subject.

The scope of the issue includes structural engineering, seismic design, structural control and other topics. The issue consists of six papers, reflecting progress in research, carried out recently by researchers from different countries. I hope that it will be a reliable source of information on current developments in the field for scientists, scholars, teachers, engineers and students worldwide