  We consider the class of space-time defects investigated by Puntigam and
Soleng. These defects describe space-time dislocations and disclinations
(cosmic strings), and are in close correspondence to the actual defects that
arise in crystals and metals. It is known that in such materials dislocations
and disclinations require a small and large amount of energy, respectively, to
be created. The present analysis is carried out in the context of the
teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (TEGR). We evaluate the
gravitational energy of these space-time defects in the framework of the TEGR
and find that there is an analogy between defects in space-time and in
continuum material systems: the total gravitational energy of space-time
dislocations and disclinations (considered as idealized defects) is zero and
infinit, respectively.
