ground floor

Mr Mitchell said descriptions of the tavern, which occupied the ground floor of a tall tenement, gave an impression of the claustrophobic confines of the Old Town.

In these buildings, the ground floor can be held up by flimsy, skinny poles that can collapse when shaken side-to-side in an earthquake.

Six residents of an elderly care home died when the flood water washed into the building when they were still on the ground floor.

But everyone is believed to have been on the ground floor when the house was hit.

These are apartment buildings with carports, garages or retail stores on the ground floor, with flimsy supports that can collapse in the side-to-side shaking of an earthquake.