Observed failure modes of unreinforced masonry buildings during the 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake

On 26 th October 2015, an Mw 7.5 earthquake struck northern Pakistan, with its epicenter located 45 km southwest of Jarm in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The earthquake resulted from reverse faulting at a depth of 210 km, resulting in 280 fatalities and substantial damage to some 109,123 buildings. Regional seismicity, characteristics of recorded strong motions, damage statistics, and building performance observations are presented. Earthquake damage was mostly constrained to seismic-deficient unreinforced masonry(URM) buildings. Typical failure modes included toppled minarets, partial or complete out of plane collapse of URM walls, diagonal shear cracking in piers, flexural cracking in spandrels, corner damage, pounding damage, and damage due to ground settlement. The majority of human loss resulted due to failure of URM walls and subsequent roof collapse. URM buildings located in rural hilly areas closer to the epicenter suffered more intense and frequent damage than urban URM buildings located farther away in larger cities.     

WATER QUALITY STUDIES IN MALAYSIAN DISUSED MAN MADE LAKES FOR SUITABILITY OF AN AQUACULTURE PROJECT

1INTRODUCTIONWater is an essential component of an eco-sys-tem.It sustains life on the earth.A community de-pends on water for its domestic,agricultural and in-dustrials needs.According to Ackefors,et al.(1994),the term water quality'in the context ofaqua…     

A conceptual and analytical framework for understanding the spatial effects on political actions in a new world order

All creations, except mankind, on this Universe are well organized under a natural universal system. They struggle for their survival within the territorial limits of their making. They do not have special barriers between, particularly similar to International Boundaries of Mankind. They even move from one physical region to another if the basic requirements, necessary for their survival are exhausted. Mankind is recognized as supreme to all creations, but diversity of their character, behavior, suspicious, and indifferent political ideology with uncomfortable mask on faces, have created an ending growth of conflicts through passion and reason within and outside the limits of their access, and set a criterion of moving power, to control the other limits on this universe.The basic object of writing this paper is to construct a framework or show a path leading to its construction for uniting mankind on one political platform, free from the influence of power and pressure. Keeping in mind the teaching of religious doctrine and their concept of world orders and the philosophical approaches, particularly the recent political writing of Kant towards inidvidual rights and freedom under the controlling factors of reason and passion, a framework for the new world order is possible to establish, leading to the final goal of creating a global system.     

Evolution of a tertiary volcanogenic trough in SW Turkey — The Alakaya basins of the Lycien belt

Field study of several stratigraphic sections from allochthonous thrust fault slices of SW Turkey reveal that a deeply subsiding volcanogenic trough, the Alakaya basin existed during Paleocene-Middle Eocene times along the Lycian belt. The Alakaya basin was located along a tectonically active zone of weakness between two relatively stable tectonic terrains, the Menderes massif to the northwest and the Beydaglari continental platform to the southeast. The basin was underlain by continental substratum. All known outcrops of the Alakaya sediments overlie platform carbonates of Cretaceous age that correlate with the Beydaglari shelf sediments. The generation of the volcanogenic Alakaya basin reflects a tensional period that culminated in Middle Eocene when basic volcanic activity took place. The tensional stage was replaced by a compressional regime in Late Eocene and large scale overthrust faulting took place. The Alakaya basin was closed when the Tefenni nappe from the north was emplaced on its sediments in Late Eocene. The Alakaya sediments overlying the Tefenni nappe and underlying the Cretaceous platform carbonates moved southeastward over a hundred kilometers onto the autochthonous sediments of the Beydaglari terrain in Miocene time. The Alakaya basin is analogous to the Maden basin of SE Turkey thrust fault belt. Both basins were located along tectonically active belts. The main stage of basin subsidence and volcanism was in Middle Eocene. Closure of both basins by large scale thrust faulting was in Late Eocene. The creation and destruction of the volcanogenic Alakaya basin may be related to the regional adjustments in plate motions in Paleocene-Eocene times.

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Zusammenfassung Geländestudien einiger stratigraphischer Profile von allochthonen Überschiebungspaketen in der SW Türkei zeigen, daß ein tief abgesunkener vulkanogener Trog, das Alakaya Becken, während des Paläozäns und Mittel Eozäns entlang der Lyzischen Zone bestand. Das Alakaya Becken lag innerhalb einer tektonisch aktiven Schwächezone zwischen zwei relativ stabilen tektonischen Terrains, dem Menderes Massiv im NW und der Beydaglari Kontinentalplattform im SE. Das Becken besaß eine kontinentale Unterlage. Alle bekannten Aufschlüsse mit Alakaya Sedimenten lagern über kretazischen Plattformkarbonaten, die sich mit den Beydaglaria Schelfsedimenten korrelieren lassen. Die Entwicklung des vulkanogenen Alakaya Bekkens spiegelt eine Spannungsperiode wieder, die im Mittel Eozän mit basischem Vulkanismus kulminierte. Diese Periode der Zugspannung wurde im späten Eozän von einer kompressiven Beanspruchung abgelöst, welche zu großmaßstäblichen Überschiebungen führte. Das Alakaya Becken wurde geschlossen, als auf Grund der späteozänen Platznahme die aus dem Norden stammende Tefenni Decke auf deren Sedimenten zu liegen kam. Die Alakaya Sedimente zusammen mit der überlagernden Tefenni Decke und den unterlagernden kretazischen Plattformkarbonaten wurden während des Miozäns über einhundert Kilometer südostwärts auf die autochthonen Sedimente des Beydaglari Terrains überschoben. Das Alakaya Becken ist ein Analogon zu dem Maden Becken der SE Türkischen Überschiebungszone. Beide Becken lagen entlang tektonisch aktiver Zonen. Während des Mittel Miozäns war das Hauptstadium der Beckensubsidenz und des Vulkanismus. Das Schließen der Becken mittels großmaßstäblicher Überschiebung fand in beiden Fällen im späten Eozän statt. Die Bildung und der Zerfall des vulkanogenen Alakaya Beckens scheint mit den regionalen Anpassungen an die Plattenbewegung während des Paläozäns und Eozäns verbunden zu sein.

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Résumé L'étude de terrain de plusieurs coupes stratigraphiques dans les lames charriées de l'allochtone du sud-ouest de la Turquie révèle l'existence, du Paléocène à l'Eocène moyen, d'une fosse volcanogénique fortement subsidente: le bassin d'Alakaya, situé le long de la chaîne lycienne. Ce bassin d'Alakaya s'est localisé le long d'une zone de faiblesse tectoniquement active, entre deux blocs relativement stables: le massif de Menderes au nord-ouest et la plate-forme continentale de Beydaglari au sud-est. Le bassin repose sur un substratum continental. Dans tous les affleurements connus, les sédiments d'Alakaya surmontent des carbonates de plateforme d'âge Crétacé, corrélables aux sédiments de shelf de Beydaglari. La genèse du bassin volcanogène d'Alakaya reflète une période d'extension dont le maximum se situe à l'Eocène moyen, lors de l'apparition d'une activité volcanique basique. A la phase distensive a succédé, à l'Eocène supérieur, un régime compressif marqué par des charriages de grande échelle. Le bassin d'Alakaya était fermé au moment où la nappe de Tefenni, venant du nord, s'est mise en place sur ses sédiments, à l'Eocène supérieur. Au Miocène, l'ensemble formé par la plate-forme carbonatée crétacée sous-jacente, les sédiments dAlakaya et la nappe de Tefenni surincombante a été transporté d'une centaine de km vers le sud-est sur les sédiments autochtones de Beydaglari. Le bassin d'Alakaya est analogue au bassin de Maden de la ceinture charriée du sud-est de la Turquie. Tous deux se sont localisés le long de zônes tectoniques actives. Leur phase culminante de subsidence et de volcanisme se situe à l'Eocène moyen. Dans les deux cas, les bassins ont été formés à l'Eocène supérieur par un charriage à grande échelle. La formation et la destruction du bassin d'Alakaya semblent pouvoir être rattachées aux ajustements régionaux dans les mouvements des plaques au Paléocène-Eocène.

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Discriminating Fog and Rain at the Kilometre Scale Using the Extinction from Collocated Infrared and Microwave Scintillometers

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - We investigate the path-averaged visibility and discrimination of fog and rain events using a two-wavelength (near-infrared and microwave) scintillometer system. These...     

Paleoenvironment of deposition of the Dupi Tila Formation,Lalmai Hills,Comilla, Bangladesh

The Dupi Tila Formation is composed of yellow to light brown medium to very fine moderately hard to loose sandstone, siltstone, silty clay, mudstone and shale with some conglomerates with clasts of petrified wood. The lithofacies of matrix supported conglomerate, trough cross bedded conglomerate, massive sandstone, trough cross bedded sandstone, planar cross bedded sandstone, ripple cross laminated sandstone-siltstone, flaser laminated sandstone-shale, lenticular laminated sandstone-siltstone-shale, parallel laminated sandstone-siltstone, wavy laminated shale, parallel laminated blue shale, and mudstone are delineated within this formation. Based on the grain size, sedimentary structures, water depth and genesis of individual facies, facies are grouped into three types of facies associations like (i) coarse-grained conglomerate facies association in relation to tractive current deposits of alluvial fan set up at the base of litho-succession (FAC), (ii) medium to fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association or facies association in relation to strong tide (FAT) characterizing the middle part of litho-succession, (iii) very fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association in relation to less frequent weak tide or heterolithic facies association (FAHL) characterizing upper part of litho-succession and shallow marine facies association (FASM) composing the uppermost litho-succession. Presence of gluconite indicates that the depositional environment was shallow to deep marine. The dominant paleoflow direction during the deposition of Dupi Tila Formation was toward southeast to southwestern direction. The rivers were of braided type at the piedmont alluvial depositional set up at the lower part, which later changed to estuarine-tidal flat type environmental set up in the middle part to upper part and paleo-environment was shallow marine in the uppermost part.     

A 3-tier tsunami vulnerability assessment technique for the north-west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

The 2004 tsunami that struck the Sumatra coast gave a warning sign to Malaysia that it is no longer regarded as safe from a future tsunami attack. Since the event, the Malaysian Government has formulated its plan of action by developing an integrated tsunami vulnerability assessment technique to determine the vulnerability levels of each sector along the 520-km-long coastline of the north-west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The scope of assessment is focused on the vulnerability of the physical characteristics of the coastal area, and the vulnerability of the built environment in the area that includes building structures and infrastructures. The assessment was conducted in three distinct stages which stretched across from a macro-scale assessment to several local-scale and finally a micro-scale assessment. On a macro-scale assessment, Tsunami Impact Classification Maps were constructed based on the results of the tsunami propagation modelling of the various tsunami source scenarios. At this stage, highly impacted areas were selected for an assessment of the local hazards in the form of local flood maps based on the inundation modelling output. Tsunami heights and flood depths obtained from these maps were then used to produce the Tsunami Physical Vulnerability Index (PVI) maps. These maps recognize sectors within the selected areas that are highly vulnerable to a maximum tsunami run-up and flood event. The final stage is the development of the Structural Vulnerability Index (SVI) maps, which may qualitatively and quantitatively capture the physical and economic resources that are in the tsunami inundation zone during the worst-case scenario event. The results of the assessment in the form of GIS-based Tsunami-prone Vulnerability Index (PVI and SVI) maps are able to differentiate between the various levels of vulnerability, based on the tsunami height and inundation, the various levels of impact severity towards existing building structures, property and land use, and also indicate the resources and human settlements within the study area. Most importantly, the maps could help planners to establish a zoning scheme for potential coastline development based on its sensitivity to tsunami. As a result, some recommendations on evacuation routes and tsunami shelters in the potentially affected areas were also proposed to the Government as a tool for relief agencies to plan for safe evacuation.     

Landslide susceptibility mapping using GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis,support vector machines,and logistic regression

Identification of landslides and production of landslide susceptibility maps are crucial steps that can help planners, local administrations, and decision makers in disaster planning. Accuracy of the landslide susceptibility maps is important for reducing the losses of life and property. Models used for landslide susceptibility mapping require a combination of various factors describing features of the terrain and meteorological conditions. Many algorithms have been developed and applied in the literature to increase the accuracy of landslide susceptibility maps. In recent years, geographic information system-based multi-criteria decision analyses (MCDA) and support vector regression (SVR) have been successfully applied in the production of landslide susceptibility maps. In this study, the MCDA and SVR methods were employed to assess the shallow landslide susceptibility of Trabzon province (NE Turkey) using lithology, slope, land cover, aspect, topographic wetness index, drainage density, slope length, elevation, and distance to road as input data. Performances of the methods were compared with that of widely used logistic regression model using ROC and success rate curves. Results showed that the MCDA and SVR outperformed the conventional logistic regression method in the mapping of shallow landslides. Therefore, multi-criteria decision method and support vector regression were employed to determine potential landslide zones in the study area.     

Nickel removal from electroplating waste water using stand-alone and electrically assisted ion exchange processes

Wastewater discharged from metal-finishing processes usually contains nickel, a hazardous substance that is used extensively in the surface finishing industry. In the present study, an acidic solution containing nickel was treated using strong acid cation exchange resin. A continuous lab-scale cation exchange arrangement permitting the assessment of electric current as an enhancement mechanism was designed and utilized at different flow rates successfully. Applying the electrical potential enhanced the nickel removal by 12.7 % at flow rate 240 ml/h, and 2.5 % at flow rate 500 ml/h. Nickel recovery has been also investigated using hydrochloric acid as an eluent with and without electric current enhancement.