oq-gem

Glossary for gem taxonomy

Authors: Luke Allen, Andrew Charleson, Svetlana Brzev, and Charles Scawthorn

This online Glossary explains around 400 terms contained in the GEM Building Taxonomy v 2.0 and nearly 700 images.

The terms have been listed in alphabetical and numerical order. Text description of each term is accompanied by illustrations (photos and/or drawings) where possible.

We welcome contributions in the form of photographs or images, illustrating glossary terms. If you have any questions you can also contact us at buildingtaxonomy@globalquakemodel.org


It is clear that the structural material is stone, but the type of stone masonry is unknown. The build-up of the wall may be hidden, as in the case of a plastered wall, or information about it is unavailable.

ST99_Canada_Brzev_1

This is a stone masonry building, but there is a mix of technologies - street facade was built in dressed stone masonry and the other exterior wall is built using random rubble stone masonry (Halifax, Canada, S. Brzev)