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Summary

This document explains the underlying causes for the poor seismic performance of stone masonry buildings and offers techniques for improving it for both new and existing buildings. The proposed techniques have been proven in field applications, are relatively simple, and can be applied in areas with limited artisan skills and tools. The scope of this tutorial has been limited to discussing stone masonry techniques used primarily in the earthquake-prone countries of Asia, mostly South Asia. Nevertheless, an effort has also been made to include some stone masonry construction techniques used in other parts of the world, such as Europe. For more details on global stone masonry housing practices, readers are referred to reports published in the World Housing Encyclopedia.