'Traditional antiseismic structural system'
This picture shows a traditional antiseimic structural system found in Lefkada Island, off the West coast of Greece, dating possibly 250 years ago. On the ground floor, stone masonry is designed as the primary support system, which may fail during an earthquake dissipating in this way some of the earthquake’s energy. Once failure of the stone masonry occurs, the timber structure, acting, thus far, as a secondary, redundant system, becomes central to supporting the remaining structure. The large inherent flexibility of timber allows for the structure to undergo substantial deformations without failure. Designing for partial failure (stone masonry) explains partly why this highly seismic island of Europe boasts a small number of earthquake victims and loss of livelihood.