SEISMIC DESIGN · STANDARDS LIBRARY

Seismic Racking Design — What Changes When Your Warehouse Is in an Earthquake Zone

By Dan Sun, Marketing Director · Technically reviewed by Yongfeng Jiao, Structural Engineer · JISE Intelligent Storage

Seismic action is a design input, not an afterthought

In an earthquake, a loaded rack is a pendulum carrying thousands of kilograms at height. Seismic design adds horizontal and vertical actions to the load combinations, and changes almost every structural decision: stronger base plates and anchors, revised bracing layouts, checked beam-connector behavior under cyclic loading, and drift limits that keep frames from impacting building structures.

The input data is site-specific — seismic zone, soil class, building interaction — which is why legitimate seismic racking is always a project-specific engineering exercise, never a catalog option.

Markets where this is non-negotiable

Japan, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines and parts of Southeast Asia all enforce seismic provisions for storage equipment, through building codes, insurance requirements or both. In Japan — one of JISE's strongest delivery markets — seismic documentation is a standard part of project approval. Buyers building in Mexico can find the seismic RFQ inputs in our Mexico import guide.

JISE issues project-specific seismic calculations and stamped FEA reports for AS/RS high-bay racking and automated structures, in the official language of the project location, covering the local code basis required by the authority having jurisdiction.

What to put in your RFQ

Three lines in your RFQ change everything: the project address (for seismic zone and soil classification), the applicable building code or authority, and a requirement for stamped project-specific calculations. Suppliers with real seismic capability will welcome these; suppliers without it will go quiet — which is also an answer.

Frequently asked questions

When is seismic design mandatory for racking?

Wherever the national building code classifies the site in a seismic zone — Japan, New Zealand, Chile, parts of the United States, Turkey and others. In these markets the rack is treated as a structure, and seismic action is a design input, not an option.

What actually changes in a seismic racking design?

Base-plate and anchor design, frame bracing, beam-to-upright connector locking, and sometimes reduced unit loads or modified bay geometry — all derived from the site's seismic parameters. There is no universal 'seismic rack' product.

What should my RFQ include for a seismic site?

The site's seismic design parameters (or the local code edition and site class), the authority's documentation requirements, and whether stamped calculations in the local language are needed. JISE issues project FEA reports in the official language of the project location.