Post-earthquake Reconstruction Research Articles

An improved method of Newmark analysis for mapping hazards of coseismic landslides

Abstract. Coseismic landslides can destroy buildings, dislocate roads, sever pipelines, and cause heavy casualties. It is thus important but challenging to accurately map the hazards posed by coseismic landslides. Newmark's method is widely applied to assess the permanent displacement along a potential slide surface and model the coseismic response of slopes. This paper proposes an improved Newmark analysis for mapping the hazards of coseismic landslides by considering the roughness and effect of the size of the potential slide surfaces. This method is verified by data from a case study on the 2014 Mw 6.1 (the United States Geological Survey) Ludian earthquake in Yunnan Province, China. Permanent displacements due to the earthquake ranged from 0 to 122 cm. The predicted displacements were compared with a comprehensive inventory of landslides triggered by the Ludian earthquake to map the spatial variation in the hazards of coseismic landslides using the certainty factor model. The confidence levels of coseismic landslides indicated by the certainty factors ranged from −1 to 0.95. A hazard map of the coseismic landslide was generated based on the spatial distribution of values of the certainty factor. A regression curve relating the predicted displacement and the certainty factor was drawn, and can be applied to predict the hazards of coseismic landslides for any seismic scenario of interest. The area under the curve was used to compare the improved and the conventional Newmark analyses, and revealed the improved performance of the former. This mapping procedure can be used to predict the hazards posed by coseismic landslides, and provide guidelines for decisions regarding the development of infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction.

Lucrative Disaster: Financialization, Accumulation and Postearthquake Reconstruction in Nepal

abstractThis article investigates long-term processes of financialization unfolding in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, engaging with literatures on financialization and political economy of disaster and development. The article probes the evolving financialized social relations in Nepal in the context of humanitarian relief and reconstruction, paying particular attention to processes through which wide-scale political economies enter into the daily lives of disaster victims and play key roles in transforming their economic practice and subjectivity. In the name of relief and reconstruction, foreign investment combined with urban surplus capital has circulated within Nepal as finance in rural, earthquake-affected areas—making the earthquakes a truly lucrative disaster. The article deploys a conjunctural approach to understanding disaster financialization as a multiscalar process constituted through geoeconomic logics, state–market complexes, and economic subjectivity. Each of these dimensions of disaster financialization is elaborated in separate sections of the article. We conclude by cautioning against both celebrations and outright rejections of finance as a viable and desirable modality for disaster reconstruction—calling instead for a more nuanced understanding of disaster financialization and its implications for affected populations.

Gibellina, Salaparuta, Poggioreale and Montevago: about built environment underutilization and possible urban future

Disasters like earthquakes affect dramatically the construction of place identity. Urban settlements generate complex social structures that are not just scenarios where the functioning of city takes place. “Interrupted landscapes” cannot be merely reconstructed. Post-earthquake reconstruction lies in between community social identity protection and urban planning approaches to renewal or rebuilding. This paper focuses on the four urban centres of Gibellina, Montevago, Salaparuta and Poggioreale that were reconstructed in a different place after the Belice’s earthquake (Western Sicily), occurred in 1968. After a brief review of the planning events that characterized the post-earthquake reconstruction, this paper analyses the built environment of these four settlements with regard to built up volumes, land uses and inhabitants. The most relevant outcome is an impressive underutilization of the reconstructed dwellings and evident trends of depopulation and ageing. Literature and data analysis suggest some critical consideration about the urban strategies adopted, the choices that managed the reconstruction, and the long-term effects caused by the 1968 event. The case studies presented here discuss the directions for the revitalisation of these area from a town planning perspective, taking into account the present and future challenges for resident communities and local authorities, encountering the risk of progressive abandonment of these settlements.

The disaster relief and social work after the Wenchuan earthquake in Mainland China

ABSTRACT This paper mainly focuses on the development of disaster social work in Mainland China and the intervention of social work in disaster relief. Before the Wenchuan earthquake and in the initial stage of post-earthquake, disaster social work was mainly based on individual psychotherapy; from the earthquake to the year of 2012 in which post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction was completed, the disaster relief began to emphasise community building and integration, while the basic framework for disaster social work was also established. Social workers begin to explore the new mode of developmental and localised disaster social work. By combining with the practical experiences from disaster social work, this paper tries to highlight the dilemmas confronting disaster relief in Mainland China and put forward some corresponding countermeasures and suggestions, which could improve the future disaster relief system in Mainland China.

Dynamic Vulnerability Analysis of Mountain Settlements Exposed to Geological Hazards: A Case Study of the Upper Min River, China

The upper reaches of Min River (The upper Min River) is located in Southwest China with significant mountain settlements, which are vulnerable to frequent geological hazards. Based on a field investigation, collation of yearbook data, and analysis through the use of SPSS statistical software, a vulnerability evaluation index system of geological hazards was devised. According to the actual field situation and the acquired data of the study area in 2006, 2009, and 2015, 16 indicators were selected as settlement vulnerability evaluation indexes of geological hazards. The indexes included population density, building coverage, and economic density. Based on the comprehensive evaluation model of entropy value, the dynamic change in the settlement vulnerability of geological hazards was analyzed. The results showed that population density, building coverage, economic density, and road density were the factors that affected the settlement vulnerability of geological hazards the most—Wenchuan earthquake caused considerable damage to the upper Min River, making the area the most vulnerable in 2009. However, its vulnerability decreased in 2015, which indicated that postearthquake reconstruction achieved significant results. Thus, the vulnerability has emerged as an important indicator reflecting the safety and healthy development of mountain settlements.

Relevance of rock slope deformations in local seismic response and microzonation: Insights from the Accumoli case-study (central Apennines, Italy)

Based on a National Government Decree, detailed seismic microzonation studies were carried out after the seismic sequence of Central Italy (2016–2017) in support of post-earthquake reconstruction. During these activities mass rock creep deformations of slopes were observed in the municipality of Accumoli (Latium Region), involving two urbanized areas on the left bank of the Tronto River. The geological and geomorphological surveys as well as the geomechanical characterization of rock masses revealed a deformation process of flexural toppling which involves the sub-vertical thick sandstone layers down to 50 m of depth. Geophysical investigations, consisting of downhole tests, active surface-wave testing and seismic ambient noise measurements, were carried out in the areas involved in the deformational processes. The results highlighted that the rock mass involved in the flexural toppling exhibits peaks of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) in a frequency band ranging from 1.5 up to 2.5 Hz. In one of the two areas, H/V calculated on weak-motions recorded during the seismic sequence within the deforming rock mass, showed a clear peak in the H/V frequency range 1.5–2.0 Hz, the same range pointed out by the ambient vibration analysis. Due to local morphological, lithological and bedding conditions, such an evidence cannot be related to a simple 1D resonance due to the seismic impedance contrasts originated from the local stratigraphy. Nevertheless, it seems more reliable that the HVSR peaks can be related to the 3D volume of intensely jointed rock mass, in agreement with the field evidence of flexural toppling, as these peaks result confined within the deforming mass. In addition, the lack of a clear polarization of the particle motion in the seismic ambient noise dataset suggests that the observed effect should not be linked to the interaction of seismic surface waves with persistent discontinuities in an anisotropic rock mass. According to the National guidelines for seismic microzonation studies, these rock masses have not been identified as unstable, i.e. involved in conventional landslide processes, but have been identified as seismic amplification prone microzones with associated amplification factors of at least 1.5 in the period range 0.1–0.5 s. The identification of such microzones within areas involved in gravity-induced slope deformations is a significant prerequisite for planning strategies of post-earthquake reconstruction.

Drones in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Action: A Case Study in The Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake 2015

Nepal ranks 6th, 11th and 30th in the list of countries vulnerable in terms of risk from climate change, earthquake and flood respectively. Frequent multi-disasters in a difficult terrain makes disaster management a challenge, and up-to-date geo-information plays a critical role in proper disaster management. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) enables quicker geoinforma t ion collection compared to traditional surveying methods, hence leading to efficient disaster management. UAVs were introduced in Nepal in the aftermath of the April 2015 Earthquake. An unprecedented number of small and lightweight UAVs were flown over highly damaged areas and heritage sites by journalists and humanitarian responders to assist in immedia te rescue, relief, and reconstruction efforts. However, risks to national security by the unregula ted use of drones was realized by the Government of Nepal and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and hence they released a guideline that controlled the use of UAVs through a thoroughly difficult permission procedure. This vastly limited the use of drones in Nepal and increasing adoption of the technology for humanitarian causes also slowed down rapidly. However, increasing demand has recently led to a revised Drone Flight Guidelines 2075 that now provides authorit y to local governments to grant permissions through easier processes for lightweight drones thus encouraging good usages of drones. This paper attempts to identify, analyze and document the social applications of Drone technology in Nepal and highlights the specific use of Drones in post-earthquake reconstruction of damaged buildings, hydropower projects, landslide mapping, aerial surveillance during disasters, rescue efforts, delivery of medicines and health supplies in rural areas and many more. It also reflects the change in perception of the government towards drone technology.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2019 Page: 19

Assessment of the impact of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on human activity based on DMSP/OLS time series nighttime light data

Earthquake disasters and postdisaster reconstruction have profound impacts on human society. We use time series nighttime light images collected by the defense meteorological satellite program-operational linescan system sensors as a proxy data source for human activities (HAs). After calibration, a time series analysis method is used to study the distribution and intensity of the changes in HAs after an earthquake. We consider the Haiti earthquake an example to analyze the HA sequence patterns and the aggregation patterns of the HA centers. The results show the following: (1) postearthquake recovery and reconstruction efforts led to increases in the long-term HAs, but the level of increased HA was usually low. (2) The level of postearthquake HAs in the most affected areas (seismic intensity zone VIII+) increased, whereas the postearthquake HAs in severely affected areas (seismic intensity zones VI and VII) were more fragmented. (3) The recovery of HAs in seismic intensity zone VIII+ (mainly Port-au-Prince) required 2 years, but the actual time may be far longer.

Building Structural Systems in Christchurch's Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

After the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes, much of the Christchurch Central Business District was demolished, and a new city is in the process of emerging in its place. A series of interviews conducted with key professionals involved with the reconstruction, together with data collected from various sources (including Christchurch's City Council database), has made it possible to (1) quantify variations in the selection of a structural system as a function of various parameters and (2) identify some of the drivers that have influenced decisions about the selection of structural material and specific structural systems used. Key points on factors that may affect post-earthquake structural engineering practice are drawn from the data collected. As such, the Christchurch rebuilding experience provides insights into some of the mechanisms that can dictate structural engineering decisions during the post-earthquake reconstruction of a modern city.

Diverse approaches to the preservation of built vernacular heritage: case study of post-disaster reconstruction of the Xijie Historic District in Dujiangyan City, China

ABSTRACTPreservation of the built vernacular heritage contributes to maintaining a ‘sense of place' and cultural diversity; yet, it is often ignored in preservation practices that favour high styled architectures and monumental sites. In China, although the understanding of the value of vernacular expression has shown some progress, technical and methodological efforts are still necessary to address the diversity and complexity of vernacular heritage. In this paper, the Xijie Historic District in Dujiangyan City in China provides an example for the preservation of the built vernacular heritage in the context of neighbourhood revitalization during a post-earthquake reconstruction project. Five types of intervention are examined in this paper, including the repair and restoration of the monuments, restoration of historic buildings, rehabilitation of traditional houses, contextual design of new buildings, and demolition to provide public space and facilities. In particular, the measures implemented to meet the residents' needs while maintaining the diversity of the built vernacular heritage are inspected. This study concludes with three recommendations: the classification of vernacular environments and employment of diverse measures to each type; the adaptation of the vernacular environment to meet residents’ expectations and aspirations; and recognition of the development and reasonable control of the changes.

The National Strategy for Inner Areas: Innovation, Policy Transfer and Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

Abstract This article analyses the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (NSIA) as a new policy for local development only partially linked to the European cohesion policy. It focuses on its innovative contents (vision, governance and methodology), and mainly on the transfer of innovation to lower levels of government and between local administrations. As an empirical study of policy transfer and policy innovation in a system of multilevel governance it shows an unexpected transfer of the NSIA methodology to another policy field: that of post-earthquake reconstruction in Central Italy. The article concludes by applying the typology of policy transfer developed in its first part to the analysis of the case-study as a whole.

Research on disaster resilience of earthquake-stricken areas in Longmenshan fault zone based on GIS

ABSTRACTSince the Ms 8.0 earthquake occurred in Yingxiu, a town in Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008, frequent geological disasters ensued on the land affected by earthquakes in the Longmenshan fault zone have caused a large number of casualties and property losses. Therefore, measuring the disaster resilience of earthquake-stricken areas is the priority for disaster prevention and mitigation science. Based on the in-depth analysis of the hazard of disaster resilience, this paper constructs the compatibility coefficient of industrial and employment structure and per capita GDP growth rate from the socio-economic perspective to measure the disaster resilience. Considering seismic intensity, this paper, with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and the topographic complexity index described by the topographic information entropy method, analyses the temporal and spatial change rule of disaster resilience in the heavily damaged area. The results show that the impact of the “post-earthquake effect” on disaster resilience tends to decrease concussively over time, and the seismic intensity and topographic complexity are important internal factors that restrict the improvement in disaster resilience. This paper will provide a broader application scenario for the concept of resilience, especially in post-earthquake integrated risk management and reconstruction process.

Post-earthquake reconstruction as an opportunity for a sustainable reorganisation of transport and urban structure

The reconstruction of a damaged historic/modern urban system following a natural catastrophic event, even if sophisticated, complex and expensive can become an opportunity to apply innovative methods of urban regeneration oriented towards environmental sustainability. A research by the University of L'Aquila exploring the consequences of the 2009 earthquake in central Italy, both in analytical and design terms, is focused on this theme, applying innovative principles to the reconstruction project of the city of L'Aquila, capital of the Abruzzo Region (Italy). The study carries out an analysis of the earthquake effects on urban systems and mobility and proposes an operating strategy based on a multidisciplinary approach that integrates urban design and sustainable mobility strategies. In particular, it outlines the components of Strategic Projects that has been developed for the reconnection of the urban fragments created by the dispersion of the city after the earthquake, which has applied the principles of multi-modal sustainable mobility.The results of the study show that the post-quake reconstruction, if properly interpreted, can be a unique opportunity to conceive and construct the conditions to implement a new and more efficient urban sustainable transport model through advanced technologies based on outlining an innovative urban redesign approach.

Estimating direct and indirect losses due to earthquake damage in residential RC buildings

The downtime due to earthquake damage in RC buildings is examined. The rational component of downtime is evaluated based on the results of probabilistic seismic loss assessment analyses, using suitable time estimating manuals for civil construction works. The irrational component of downtime is derived from empirical data relevant to post-earthquake reconstruction in Italy. Suitable criteria are then adopted to monetize the downtime for indirect loss estimation. Finally, a simplified model, expressing indirect monetary loss as a function of the earthquake intensity level, is tentatively proposed, to be incorporated in practice-oriented procedures for the estimation of the expected annual loss of residential RC buildings.

First-Aid and Provisional Devices in Historical Structures with Collapse Risk after Seismic Shock

Realization of first-aid devices for the safety of heavily damaged structures of the Cultural Heritage assets is one of the main problems in the post-earthquake emergency phase. However, the adopted solutions, characterized by the utmost urgency, often appear uneven, ineffective and expensive. Six years after the earthquake in Emilia Romagna Region, which damaged numerous historical buildings, above all churches, it seems worthwhile to reflect on the management of the post-earthquake emergency and reconstruction interventions. As a matter of fact, in 2012, many Public Institutions were unprepared to deal with such an event: the lack of an appropriate knowledge about how to intervene in such conditions has led to solutions that are unnecessarily expensive, technically ineffective and, sometimes, even harmful for the building itself. Frequently, the strengthening devices had to be entirely redesigned during the subsequent phase of definitive intervention, entailing additional costs for the removal of those realized in the emergency phase. The cases in which the provisional devices have been designed in preparation for the final strengthening, sometimes even becoming definitive themselves, are rare. Therefore, this experience has raised some reflections concerning the functionality of the temporary safety measures. It has been noticed that an appropriate design of the provisional devices is fundamental in order to avoid interventions that could compromise the value of the architectural asset, to allow the knowledge of the structure for designing the definitive strengthening and to consider the permanent implications of such safety measures. This note presents some case-studies related to strengthening actions following the 2012 earthquake in Emilia, aiming to identify possible solutions for implementing the first-aid interventions in an integrated way with the subsequent strengthening phase in order to significantly reduce economic, material and time costs.

Why lessons learnt are lost

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reduce the gap in understanding the complexity of barriers, their modifiers and how these barriers and their modifiers result in malpractices and missed good practices in post-earthquake reconstruction contexts. This paper provides insights to the often asked question: why the lessons learnt from one earthquake event are not actually learnt and many of the mistakes around housing reconstruction are repeated? Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the review of the literature of the top deadliest earthquakes in the developing countries and the two case studies of the 2005 Kashmir and 2015 earthquake in Pakistan. Findings Multifarious barriers, their modifiers, malpractices and missed good practices are deeply interwoven, and endemic and include weak financial standing, lack of technical know-how, vulnerable location, social and cultural preference, affordability and availability of materials, over-emphasis on technical restrictions, inefficient policies, lack of clarity in institutional roles, monitoring and training. Research limitations/implications The study is desk based. Practical implications A better understanding of barriers can help disaster-related organisations to improve the planning and implementation of post-earthquake housing reconstruction. Social implications The study contributes to the understanding concerning various social and cultural preferences that negotiate the Build Back Better (BBB) process. Originality/value The study offers a distinctive perspective synthesising the literature and the two case studies to sharpen the understanding of the complexity of barriers to BBB.

Socio-technical module in assistance: Promoting resilient reconstruction in the wake of a disaster

Disasters every year proclaim life of thousands and destruct infrastructures worth billions worldwide. Moreover, the developing countries are more prone to hazards as they are found to be lagging in early preparedness regarding the consequences of disaster. Nepal, in the wake of the 7.8 magnitude 2015 Gorkha Earthquake had to face devastating effects as the country lost nearly ten-thousand lives and structures accounting 6.69 billion US$ (NRA, 2016). Private Housing, one of the subordinates of social sector, faced the colossal damage, making the dwellers bound to take shelter under the makeshift tents. To that end, government has adopted owner driven approach for reconstruction and it is advancing in an amplified way. Since the rural terrains with low strength masonry had to face shattering effects, the reconstruction demands their construction with incorporation of seismic resistant components. The technique of construction since significantly differs than the primitive way, diverse modes of assistance is required by house owners to make their buildings codal compliant, which is also linked with obtaining subsidy. Not only reconstruction is a technical process, rather it is also a blend of economic, social and cross cutting issues. Having said that, the paper aims to study a multidimensional approach of socio-technical assistance (STA) through the study of different cases of ongoing post-earthquake reconstruction. The paper studies the impacts of socio-technical assistance being provided at various earthquake affected areas to understand what aspects of socio-technical assistance are aiding in the current reconstruction process. In conclusion, the paper identifies the core areas of sociotechnical assistance that is required in the aftermath of a disaster and how the current institutional structure can be modified to enhance the quality of socio-technical assistance being provided through various government and non-government agencies.

Life satisfaction evaluation in earthquake-hit area by the probabilistic linguistic GLDS method integrated with the logarithm-multiplicative analytic hierarchy process

Occurred on May 12, 2008, the Wenchuan earthquake in China has received worldwide attention for its incredible destructive power. In June of the same year, the State Council issued a draft regulation on post-quake restoration and reconstruction. To find the effect of post-earthquake reconstruction, this paper measures the residents' life satisfaction in Wenchuan by multiple criteria decision-making methods under probabilistic linguistic environment. Based on field surveys and domains of life satisfaction, an indicator system is proposed as a framework to collect resident's evaluations. To retain as much original information as possible, an effective weighting method with probabilistic linguistic information is developed to deduce the indicator's importance. It extends the logarithm-multiplicative analytic hierarchy process to handle the probabilistic linguistic evaluations and derive the criteria weights in interval forms. In this way, the inherent uncertainty of the evaluations on the importance of life satisfaction indicators can be reflected. Furthermore, a novel outranking method named the probabilistic linguistic gain and lost dominance score method, is used to obtain the overall life satisfaction degrees of the residents in Wenchuan. We apply this method to measure the life satisfaction degrees of residents in two areas. The calculation results show that the life satisfaction degrees of the residents in the earthquake-hit area are higher than those of the residents in the non-earthquake area.

UAV PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR RESILIENCE MANAGEMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION PLAN OF URBAN HISTORICAL CENTRES AFTER SEISMIC EVENTS. A CASE STUDY

Abstract. In the last decades, the UAV photogrammetry has been widely employed to obtain a complete and metric survey in different fields, especially when high resolution, speed of execution and safety are required. It is widely used in the construction sector and an interesting research field is their use to support the historical centres urban renewal projects, especially in post-earthquake reconstruction. In fact, the establishment of a construction site involves several intrinsic criticalities linked to the nature of the context, and especially in a post-earthquake scenario, additional problems arise beyond these critical elements. These conditions affect the preservation of historical centres, planned conservation, risk and resilience management. For this reason, it is necessary to develop innovative methodologies and strategy to plan interventions and to manage the construction sites in the historical centre after an earthquake.The use of UAV photogrammetry is a tool to support this activity in this field because it allows obtaining a complete and a high-resolution geometric survey of the areas to be reconstructed in a fast way and especially in total safety for the operators. For this reason, this study aims to illustrate a methodology that, starting from a series of preliminary surveys, supports the development of the program of reconstruction of a historic urban centre hit by an earthquake event. The aim of this research is to prevent problems, interferences and criticalities in order to increase the safety and rationality of the entire reconstruction process.

How Much Should We Pay for Mental Health Deterioration? The Subjective Monetary Value of Mental Health After the 27F Chilean Earthquake

In this article we use the life satisfaction approach to assess the non-pecuniary costs of Mental health impacts after the 2010 Chile earthquake. By linking both subjective well-being valuation literature with studies that describe psychological impacts after natural disasters, we are able to quantify how big a compensation should be to leave individuals as well as they were before the event. Our results suggest that people who experience stress should be compensated by approximately 80–90% of the average monthly income if the shock was strong enough to cause significant damages. These estimates are robust to different empirical specifications, endogeneity, shock intensity measures, and mental health definitions. We estimate that the total costs of mental health deterioration are about 7% of the total reported damages, a significant amount that policymakers should not ignore in post-earthquake reconstruction stages.