Following the 1908 Messina earthquake ( Italy ) the Royal Government of Italy established Geological Committee and Engineering Committee in early 1909 to study the disaster and recommend earthquake disaster mitigation measures . The Engineering Committee , after studying the lateral load resistance of buildings which survived the earthquake motion , recommended that the seismic ratio ( seismic acceleration divided by the gravity acceleration ) equal to 1/12 for the first floor and 1/8 for the floors above should be used in seismic design of buildings . The Committee proposed equivalent vertical forces much larger than the horizontal forces because vertical motion acted as impacts . This is believed to be the first known quantitative recommendation of design seismic forces in the history of seismic codes . The recommendation was adopted in Royal Decree No. 573 of April 29 , 1915 . The height of the buildings was limited to two stories , and the first story should be designed for a horizontal force equal to 1/8 the second floor weight and the second story for 1/6 of the roof weight . The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake ( Japan ) and earlier events inspired Japanese engineer Toshikata Sano to develop a lateral force procedure that was officially implemented in the 1924 Japanese Urban Building Law , which directed engineers to design buildings for horizontal forces of about 10 % of the weight of the building
1908 Messina earthquake
1908 Messina earthquake
Seismic code