Damage to urban buildings in zones of intensities Ⅷ and Ⅶ during the Wenchuan earthquake and discussion on some typical damages

The outline and typical characteristics of damages to building in Jiangyou city and Anxian county(intensity VⅢ), Mianyang city and Deyang city(intensity VII) are introduced in the paper.The damage ratios, based on the sample statistics of multi-story brick buildings together with multi-story brick buildings with RC frame at first story(BBF), are presented.Then some typical damages, such as horizontal cricks of brick masonry buildings, X-shaped cricks on the walls under windows, the damages to columns, beams...     

Damage to residential buildings in Hveragerði during the 2008 Ölfus Earthquake: simulated and surveyed results

This study analyses the performance of residential buildings in the town of Hveragerði in South Iceland during the 29 May 2008 Mw 6.3 Ölfus Earthquake. The earthquake occurred very close to the town, approximately 3–4 km from it. Ground shaking caused by the earthquake was recorded by a dense strong-motion array in the town. The array provided high-quality three-component ground acceleration data which is used to quantify a hazard scenario. In addition, surveys conducted in the town in the aftermath of the earthquake have provided information on macroseismic intensity at various locations in the town. Detailed information regarding the building stock in the town is collected, and their seismic vulnerability models are created by using building damage data obtained from the June 2000 South Iceland earthquakes. Damage to buildings are then simulated by using the scenario hazard and vulnerability models. Damage estimates were also obtained by conducting a survey. Simulated damage based on the scenario macroseismic intensity is found to be similar to damage estimated from survey data. The buildings performed very well during the earthquake—damage suffered was only 5 % of the insured value on the average. Correlation between actual damage and recorded ground-motion parameters is found to be statistically insignificant. No significant correlation of damage was observed, even with macroseismic intensity. Whereas significant correlation was observed between peak ground velocity and macroseismic intensity, neither of them appear to be good indicators of damage to buildings in the study area. This lack of correlation is partly due to good seismic capacity of buildings and partly due to the ordinal nature of macroseismic intensity scale. Consistent with experience from many past earthquakes, the survey results indicate that seismic risk in South Iceland is not so much due to collapse of buildings but rather due to damage to non-structural components and building contents.     

Performance of non-structural elements in RC buildings during the L��Aquila, 2009 earthquake

In Italy infills and partitions (non-structural elements) are typically made up of hollow brick masonry, disposed in one or two parallel vertical walls. Many studies have analysed their role on the seismic behaviour of moment resisting framed RC buildings and many seismic codes, all over the world, have provided specific additional measures for them. During the Abruzzo seismic sequence, non-structural damage in RC buildings, both private and public, was extensive, varying from small cracks to collapse, along with minor or no damage to structural elements. This damage involved a number of buildings, both old and recently completed, determining heavy socio-economic consequences, including human casualties, loss of building functionality (particularly important in case of strategic constructions), and unusable buildings. In this paper a review of the most frequent damage patterns is performed, aimed at identifying the main causes of damage and linking them to commonly adopted construction rules. For this purpose, local and global structural configurations frequently exhibiting non-structural damage are described, aside from out-of-plane and in-plane failures. Furthermore, a review of code provisions on non structural elements has been performed in the paper making reference to the most prominent current seismic codes and, finally, some design and construction rules are suggested.     

Analysis and interpretation of the seismic response of RC buildings in Concepción during the February 27, 2010, Chile earthquake

Observed trends in the seismic performance of eight severely damaged reinforced concrete (RC) structures after the February 27, 2010, Chile earthquake are presented in this article. After a reconnaissance and surveying process conducted immediately after the earthquake, several aspects not conventionally considered in building design were observed in the field. Most of the considered structures showed extensive localized damage in walls of lower stories and first basements. Several factors indicate that damage was brittle, and occurred mainly in recent RC structures supported on soft soils with some degree of vertical and/or horizontal irregularity. Non-ductile behavior has been inferred due to the lack of evidence of spread damage in the structure, and the fact that very similar structural configurations existed nearby without apparent damage. Some key aspects in understanding the observed damage are: geographical orientation of the building, presence of vertical and horizontal irregularities, wall thickness and reinforcement detailing, and lack of sources for energy dissipation. Additionally, results of a building-code type analysis are presented for the 4 most critical buildings, and Demand/Capacity ratios are calculated and compared with the observed behavior. It is concluded that the design codes must be revised relative to wall design provisions.     

Damage of 1975 Haicheng Ms7.3 earthquake in the Korean Peninsula and its effect on Kyushu, Japan

The 1975 Haicheng MS7.3 earthquake affected whole Korean Peninsula and even Kyushu,Japan.In this paperisoseismal map of this earthquake was drawn for these areas by sorting out and analyzing data systematically col-lected,furthermore,the characteristics of the earthquake damage were discussed.In the northern Korean Peninsula,the intensity is V in great majority of this area except local area with intensity VI,and the damage is basically inaccordance with typical characteristics of corresponding intensity grade.In the southern Korean Peninsula,theintensity is IV in large part of the area,however,in some big cities such as Seoul etc.,not only high buildingsshook strongly,but also some people appeared perceptions such as feeling dizzy and so on,and electrical servicewas interrupted on one or two districts because of transformer tripping.These phenomena could be caused by theeffect of long-period wave generated from a large earthquake on far-field.     

Effect of Poisson’s ratio on stress state in the Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake fault

The Wenchuan MS8.0 earthquake occurred on the Longmenshan fault which inclines at a dip angle exceeding 60 degrees.Since most thrust earthquakes occur on faults with dip angles of about 30 degrees,it is enigmatic why the Wenchuan earthquake occurred on such a steep fault.In this study we use a simple finite element model to investigate how the stress state in the fault changes with the variation of Poisson’s ratio.The results show that,with the Poisson’s ratio in the fault increasing,the magnitudes of the p...     

Primary Quantitative Study on Earthquake Damage Extracted from Remote Sensing Imagery——A Case Study of Seismic Damage in the Urban Area of Dujiangyan due to the M_S8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

The fast developing remote sensing techniques play an increasingly important role in earthquake emergency response, disaster survey and loss estimation. As there is a lack of quantitative studies on seismic damage based on remote sensing, its practicality in seismic disaster management has usually been questioned. The paper introduces the essential quantitative study idea, the concept of the remote sensing seismic damage index (DRS_I RS) and analysis models, demonstrates the seismic damage indices (DG_IC) of buildings obtained from ground surveying and its quantitative relation to DRS_I RS in Dujiangyan city, Sichuan Province, which was destroyed by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake with M_S8.0. The primary results show that an obvious relationship exists between the DRS_I RS of buildings obtained from the high resolution satellite or aerial remote sensing images and DG_I C or the building collapse ratio obtained through ground survey, which suggests that the quantitative study on seismic damage based on remote sensing will provide an effective method for seismic damage survey and loss estimation.     

An overview on shallow strong earthquake activity and earthquake live losses of Chinese mainland in the centenary from 1901 to 2001

Introduction It is well known that China locates in the southeastern part of Eurasian Plate, which subjects to the action of westward subducting of Pacific Plate and Philippine Sea Plate, and northward col- lision of Indian Plate. So China is a country with strong seismicity. There are two kinds of earth-quake activities in China. In the Chinese mainland most of the earthquakes belong to the intraplate ones, and in Taiwan of China belong to interplate ones. According to the statistics 9…     

Seismic intensity investigation of the 2001 M=6.0 Yajiang-Kangding earthquake and discussion on its background of seismogenic structures

Introduction According to the determination of the state seismic station network, a strong earthquake with magnitude of 6.0 occurred at 08h09min, February 23, 2001 (Beijing Time) in the mountainous area of Garze, Sichuan Province in southwest China. The epicenter is at 101?6E, 29?4N. The seismic region is just located on combining part among six counties. After the occurrence of the earthquake, an investigating team from the Seismological Bureau of Sichuan Province started off to the sei…     

Some evidences for earthquake occurrence in the shallow crust in some areas of North China and Southwest China

IntroductionThe hypocentral location parameters (the longitude and latitude of epicenter and the focal depth) are important fundamental data for the study of seismology and the earth interior physics. To locate the seismic source precisely is the basis for the study of seismicity patterns, relation between earthquake and active structures, engineering seismology, etc (WANG, et al, 1995). Among these parameters, the precise measurement of focal depth is closely related to the correct understa…     

A case study of damages of the Kandla Port and Customs Office tower supported on a mat–pile foundation in liquefied soils under the 2001 Bhuj earthquake

A case study is presented of the interaction between the bending due to laterally spreading forces and axial-load induced settlement on the piled foundations of the Kandla Port and Customs Tower located in Kandla Port, India, during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake. The 22 m tall tower had an eccentric mass at the roof and was supported on a piled-raft foundation that considerably tilted away as was observed in the aftermath of the earthquake. The soil at the site consists of 10 m of clay overlaid by a 12 m deep sandy soil layer. Post-earthquake investigation revealed the following: (a) liquefaction of the deep sandy soil strata below the clay layer; (b) settlement of the ground in the vicinity of the building; (c) lateral spreading of the nearby ground towards the sea front. The foundation of the tower consists of 0.5 m thick concrete mat and 32 piles. The piles are 18 m long and therefore passes through 10 m of clayey soil and rested on liquefiable soils. Conventional analysis of a single pile or a pile group, without considering the raft foundation would predict a severe tilting and/or settlement of the tower eventually leading to a complete collapse. It has been concluded that the foundation mat over the non-liquefied crust shared a considerable amount of load of the superstructure and resisted the complete collapse of the building.     

Characteristics of petroleum accumulation in syncline of the Songliao basin and discussion on its accumulation mechanism

The relation between oil and water in reservoirs with low and ultra-low permeability is very complicated. Gravitational separation of oil and water is not obvious. Normal reservoirs are located in depression and structural high spot, oil and water transitions are located in their middle. Stagnation is the key fact of oil-forming reservoir in the axis of a syncline based on the research of oil, gas and water migration manner, dynamics and non-Darcy flow in the Songliao basin. In low and ultra-low permeable reservoir, gas and water migrate easily through pore throats because their molecules are generally smaller than the pore throats; but the minimum diameter of oil droplets is larger than pore throats and they must be deformed to go through. Thus, gas and water migrate in advance of oil, and oil droplets remain behind. Pressure differential and the buoyancy force in a syncline reservoir are a main fluid driving force; and capillary force is the main resistance to flow. When the dynamics force is less than resistance, oil is immobile. When the buoyancy force is less than the capillary force, a gravitational separation of oil and water does not occur. The reservoir in the mature source rock of a syncline area with the low and ul- tra-low permeability belongs to an unconventional petroleum reservoir.     

Seismicity anomalies before the great earthquake of M_S=8.1 in the Kunlun Pass and its significance to earthquake prediction

Introduction The MS=8.1 earthquake occurred in west of the Kunlun Pass on November 14, 2001. It is the greatest earthquake occurred in China since the last half of the century and is an important event in recent seismic history of China. Some specialists consider that the earthquake occurred in the area where the earthquake monitoring capability is lowest in Chinese mainland; no striking precursory seismicity was found. The study on the precursory seismicity before the earthquake has not b…     

Textual research of Wudu earthquake in 186 B.C. in Gansu Province, China and discussion on its causative structure

On the basis of the textual research on the historical earthquake data and the field investigation of Wudu earth- quake occurred in 186 B.C., we suggest that the earthquake parameters drawn from the present earthquake catalogs are not definite and amendments should be made. The heavily-damaged area of this earthquake should be located between Jugan township of Wudu County and Pingding township of Zhouqu County. Its epicenter should be in the vicinity of Lianghekou in Wudu County with a magnitude of about 7~7 41 and an intensity of about IX~X. The major axis direction of the heavily-damaged area should be in the WNW direction that is approximately consistent with the strike of the middle-east segment of Diebu-Bailongjiang active fault zone, and the origin time should match up to that of the latest paleoearthquake event [before (83±46) B.C.] obtained by the trench investigation. Certain seismic rupture evidences are still preserved on this fault segment. Therefore, we propose on the basis of comprehensive analysis that the causative structure of the M 7~7 4/1 Wudu earthquake in 186 B.C. should be in the middle-east segment of Diebu-Bailongjiang active fault zone.     

Research on the seismogenic environment for deep earthquake and the cause of earthquakes in Xinjiang and its adjacent areas

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Effects of the hanging wall and footwall on peak acceleration during the Jiji (Chi-Chi), Taiwan Province, earthquake

Introduction In the study of ground motion attenuation model the considered parameters are generally sim-plified as ground motion parameters (acceleration, velocity, displacement, response spectrum, dura-tion, etc), earthquake magnitude, distance and site condition. As the accumulation of ground motion records, it was found that the characteristic of ground motion attenuation in tectonicly compressional region was different from that in tectonicly tensional region and the peak ground accelerat…     

Region-time-length algorithm and its application to the study of intermediate-short term earthquake precursor in North China

Introduction The earthquake is, in essence, the rupture process of crustal medium under the tectonic stress. Statistically, the macrofracture of homogeneous material is caused by the rapid increment of microfracture numbers and their collusion between one another. The macrofracture (development No.2 JIANG Hai-kun, et al: RTL ALGORITHM IN EARTHQUAKE PRECURSOR 165of main fault) is resulted from the avalanche-like growth of microf…     

A discussion on Corioli force effect and aflershock activity tendency of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on Nov.14, 2001

Following the theory and definition of the Corioli force in physics, the Corioli force at the site of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on November 14, 2001, is examined in this paper on the basis of a statistical research on relationship between the Corioli force effect and the maximum attershock magnitude of 20 earth-quakes with M≥7.5 in Chinese mainland, and then the variation tendency of attershock activity of the M=8.1 earthquake is discussed. The result shows: a) Analyzing the Corioli force effect is an effective method to predict maximum attershock magnitude of large earthquakes in Chinese mainland. For the sinistral slip fault and the reverse fault with its hanging wall moving toward the right side oftbe cross-focus meridian plane, their Corioli force pulls the two fault walls apart, decreasing frictional resistance on fault plane during the fault movement and releasing elastic energy of the mainshock fully, so the maximum magnitude of aftershocks would be low. For the dextral slip fault, its Corioli force presses the two walls against each other and increases the frictional resistance on fault plane, prohibiting energy release of the mainshock, so the maximum magnitude of attershocks would be high.b) The fault of the M--8. l Kunlun Mountain earthquake on Nov. 14, 2001 is essentially a sinistral strike-slip fault,and the Corioli force pulled the two fault walls apart. Magnitude of the induced stress is about 0.06 MPa. Alter a comparison analysis, we suggest that the attershock activity level will not be high in the late period of this earth-quake sequence, and the maximum magnitude of the whole aftershocks sequence is estimated to be about 6.0.