The use of remotely sensed data and ground survey tools to assess damage and monitor early recovery following the 12.5.2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

The M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake on May 12th, 2008 was the most destructive in China since 1976. The event caused huge damage and loss of life and exposed weaknesses both in the formulation and implementation of the regulations governing building in the affected provinces. Following the earthquake a massive relief and recovery operation was mounted by the Chinese government. The authors took part in field studies in the affected area which took place 5 and 11?months after the event, at which time recovery operations were well-advanced. The aims of the study were to assess the effects caused by the earthquake to the built environment and society, to collect information on the ongoing recovery efforts and future plans, and to demonstrate the use of tools that allow the collection of spatially referenced damage and recovery data. Based on available satellite imagery supplemented by ground observation, geodatabases were constructed containing information on damage and recovery in several parts of the affected area. The paper gives an overview of the recovery process, describes the methods used to construct these geodatabases, and offers some analysis of the data obtained. It is argued that such databases have great potential for the management of post-disaster recovery and for creating a permanent record of the recovery process.     

Thermal segmentation along the N. Ecuador–S. Colombia margin (1–4°N): Prominent influence of sedimentation rate in the trench

Along the deformation front of the North Ecuador–South Colombia (NESC) margin, both surface heat flow and trench sediment thickness show prominent along-strike variations, indicating significant spatial variations in sedimentation rate. Investigating these variations helps us address the important question of how trench sedimentation influences the temperature distribution along the interplate contact and the extent of the megathrust seismogenic zone. We examine this issue by analysing 1/ a new dense reflection data set, 2/ pre-stack depth migration of selected multichannel seismic reflection lines, 3/ numerous newly-identified bottom-simulating reflectors and 4/ the first heat probe measurements in the region. We develop thermal models that include sediment deposition and compaction on the cooling oceanic plate as well as viscous corner flow in the mantle wedge. We estimate that the temperature from 60–150 °C to 350–450 °C, commonly associated with the updip and downdip limits of the seismogenic zone, extends along the plate interface over a downdip distance of 160 to 190 ± 20 km. We conclude that the updip limit of the seismogenic zone for the great megathrust earthquake of 1979 is associated with low-temperature (60–70 °C) processes. Our models also suggest that 60–70% of the two-fold decrease in measured heat flow from 3°N to 2.8°N is related to an abrupt southward increase in sedimentation rate in the trench. Such a change may potentially induce a landward shift of the 60–150 °C isotherms, and thus the updip limit of the seismogenic zone, by 10 to 20 km.     

Zooplankton and Karenia brevis in the Gulf of Mexico

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis are common in the Gulf of Mexico, yet no in situ studies of zooplankton and K. brevis have been conducted there. Zooplankton abundance and taxonomic composition at non-bloom and K. brevis bloom stations within the Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) study area were compared. At non-bloom stations, the most abundant species of zooplankton were Parvocalanus crassirostris, Oithona colcarva, and Paracalanus quasimodo at the 5-m isobath and P. quasimodo, O. colcarva, and Oikopleura dioica at the 25-m isobath. There was considerable overlap in dominance of zooplankton species between the 5 and 25-m isobaths, with nine species contributing to 90% of abundance at both isobaths. At stations within K. brevis blooms however, Acartia tonsa, Centropages velificatus, Temora turbinata, Evadne tergestina, O. colcarva, O. dioica, and P. crassirostris were dominant. Variations in abundance between non-bloom and bloom assemblages were evident, including the reduction in abundance of three key species within K. brevis blooms.     

Comparing Loss Estimation with Observed Damage in a Zone of Ground Failure: A Study of the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake in Turkey

The building losses in Adapazari following the 17 August 1999 Kocaeli earthquake are estimated for both ground-shaking and ground-failure induced damage and the predictions compared with field observations. The ground-shaking damage is estimated using the capacity spectrum approach and accommodating the results of a previously published calibration of this model. These results, which do not incorporate ground-failure damage, are compared to the observed damage patterns in Adapazari to illustrate the significance of not including the more complex ground failure component in a loss model for a region of high liquefaction susceptibility. A preliminary estimation of ground-failure-induced damage is then presented based upon the HAZUS (FEMA, 2003) default methodology. The benefits of these additional calculations to the overall loss model are assessed to provide some quantitative decision-making guidance for those producing loss estimation models. The findings suggest that the benefits of specifically incorporating ground failure into a loss model only start to be obtained if a detailed approach using in situ geotechnical data as well as adequate representation of building foundations is adopted. Otherwise, the additional input data required is not commensurate with the small potential refinement in the estimated losses, particularly considering the compounded uncertainties associated with the simplified approach.     

Recovery of polluted ecosystems: the case for long-term studies

Recovery of marine ecosystems from pollution has tended to receive less attention than the study of new or continuing impacts, but such studies are important in charting recovery from acute incidents and following legislation to deal with chronic contamination. Recovery is inevitably a long-term process, and where such studies have been made they are often too short-lived. Interest quickly wanes following an acute incident and governmental bodies rapidly switch to new legislative priorities for chronic inputs. We review three case studies: recovery of dogwhelk populations after local extinction by tributyl tin leachates from anti-fouling paints; recovery of rocky shore communities from oil spills; and recovery of estuarine ecosystems from industrial and urban development. We then make some generalisations about recovery processes before making a plea for long-term studies of polluted areas.     

The Mollusc Thais haemastoma -An Exhibitor of 'Imposex' and Potential Biological Indicator of Tributyltin Pollution

Abstract. In the Azores the gastropod Thais haemastoma shows varying degrees of imposex, the induction of male sex characters in the female. It is inferred that imposex in T. haemastoma is caused by tributyltin (TBT) associated with boats using organotin-based antifouling paints. The two indices - relative penis size and vas deferens sequence - employed previously for Nucella lapillus , were used without alteration. T. haemastoma is only the third species reported as exhibiting 'effective sterilisation' of the female. Unlike Nucella lapillus, T. haemastoma has a planktonic larva, allowing populations to be sustained even when local TBT pollution is high. This makes T. haemastoma potentially a better indicator species, as monitored populations can be maintained by the influx of larvae. T. haemastoma may thus provide a cheap method of assessing the extent of TBT contamination in warm waters, particularly in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Islands. Preliminary examination of material from a marina in Spain showed a high incidence of 'sterile' animals.     

The Global Earthquake Vulnerability Estimation System (GEVES): an approach for earthquake risk assessment for insurance applications

For the insurance and reinsurance industries, earthquake loss estimation is crucial not only to adequately price its product but also to manage the accumulation risk in the face of the ever-increasing exposure in highly seismic regions. Changes in the built environment and a continuously evolving earthquake science make it a necessity for the industry to constantly refine earthquake loss estimation models. In particular, it has been recognized for a long time that the vulnerability of buildings to ground shaking is a key parameter in any earthquake risk model. Current methods tend either to rely on the limited historical damage and loss data or on the numerical simulation of the response of individual buildings to the ground-shaking produced by earthquakes. Although both methods have their advantages and pitfalls, we are proposing here a simple solution, using transparent input data, that can be realistically used for the needs of the insurance and reinsurance industry, whether detailed information about the insured structures is available or not. The resulting product is known as GEVES (Global Earthquake Vulnerability Estimation System). It is primarily intended for evaluating the mean damage ratio (MDR) suffered by a portfolio of buildings classified by use, under the action of a given earthquake scenario (i.e. an earthquake of given size at a given distance from the portfolio of buildings). A key assumption was that macroseismic intensity rather than spectral displacement would be the basis of loss estimation. The paper describes the model with emphasis on its structure and the justification for the assumptions made. In addition to a new set of earthquake vulnerability functions, the paper also provides recommendations on some aspects of the earthquake hazard, in particular about how to define macroseismic intensity at the site of interest, for a given earthquake scenario. This paper also discusses validation of the GEVES model against calculated vulnerability approaches, and the treatment of uncertainty within the model.