Unreinforced masonry building

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An unreinforced masonry building (or UMB, URM building) is a type of building where load bearing walls, non-load bearing walls or other structures, such as chimneys, are made of brick, cinderblock, tiles, adobe or other masonry material that is not braced by reinforcing material, such as rebar in a concrete or cinderblock.^[1] The term is used in earthquake engineering as a classification of certain structures for earthquake safety purposes, and is subject to minor variation from place to place.^[2]