No abstract

No abstract

The structural details of numerous damaged buildings in the Tohoku region were documented soon after the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami by a reconnaissance team sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Tsunami flow depths and velocities were determined based on analysis of video records and the observed effects on simple benchmark structures in the flow. Equations for various conditions of fluid loading were then validated through failure analyses completed for several buildings, using finite element modeling and LiDAR scans. These analysis tools were applied full-scale to buildings with clearly identified failure mechanisms to validate methodologies to be included in a new chapter on “Tsunami Loads and Effects” in the ASCE 7-2016 Standard, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. These findings, together with an analysis of the inherent seismic inelastic capacities of mid-rise buildings, are relevant for establishing the loadings and performance objectives proposed for the new chapter on “Tsunami Loads and Effects” in the ASCE 7 Standard.

No abstract

Following the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami, the authors participated in the EERI reconnaissance team that traveled to Chile to document damage and structural performance. The authors focused on tsunami damage following the earthquake. A summary of tsunami damage to structures is given. Based on a series of well-defined structural element failures at sites where inundation depth was measured, the team was able to evaluate the hydrodynamic loading required to cause these failures and derive estimated lower bound flow velocity overland during the event. It was estimated that the velocity exceeded 3.2 m/s in Talcahuano harbor and 4.3 m/s in the coastal town of Dichato. When found in proximity to damaged buildings and other larger structures of interest, these simple structures can serve as “flow surrogate instruments” to estimate the local flow velocity. Failure analysis of these simple structures indicated that the hydrodynamic loading estimates provided by FEMA P646 may be unconservative.