Cob's ability to hold together in one monolithic system is well proclaimed by natural builders in many earthquake-prone areas. By sculpting it in continuous rows, with lots of jagged edges on the previous layer, it becomes one giant 'brick' of adobe, even though it's not shaped like a brick. Further, the straw, by running everywhere and tying together each and every bit, acts like a fishnet sort of rebar.
Still, since I have it laying around, I've been running nylon twine through various parts of the walls, just to add to the rebar effect. Below is a picture of some blue nylon twine that's tied to previous, buried twine, that is running along the middle of the interior wall at about 7 feet up. The nylon won't rot away, and in the event of a giant earthquake, it may hold a piece of the wall to other pieces, making things safer. Can't hurt.
I've also used those flat plastic shipping straps that seem indesctructible. Every so often we order something (chimney parts) that come with these straps around the boxes. Ever try and just pull one off with your hands?
This photo shows the 'T' where the living room wall is joined by the wall between the bedrooms, from above, at about 7 ft from the floor.
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