Seismic Disaster Research Articles

A Comprehensive Fuzzy Method in Seismic Disaster Prediction of Urban Rail Transit Girder Bridges

Based on the earthquake disaster investigation of 123 reinforced concrete girder bridges, altogether eight factors that were the building year, seismic fortification intensity, soil site category, failure extent of ground soil, superstructure of bridge, constructional measures for seismic resistance, heights of the piers and abutments, and the bridge spans, those affecting the seismic performance of bridges were considered in the seismic disaster prediction. According to the principle of maximum degree of membership, the fuzzy evaluation subsets for the different influential factors were determined by empirical statistic method. The corresponding weight coefficients were presented based on the statistical analysis of the seismic damage of 123 existing bridges. Relying on the developed prediction model, a Fortran based calculating program was developed to predicting the seismic disasters of the girder bridges in urban rail transit. It was shown that the method proposed in this paper was feasible through the comparing analysis of the actual seismic damages of the 123 existing bridges. The Fortran program could be planted to the existing GIS system to predict the arbitrary girder bridge in urban rail transit

The Computer Simulation Modeling Study of Emergency Volunteers�� Demand Based on Community Emergency Units for Seismic Disaster

The Computer Simulation Modeling Study of Emergency Volunteers�� Demand Based on Community Emergency Units for Seismic Disaster

Estimation of rural housing structure and its vulnerability in China

The damage of dwelling houses constitutes the primary cause of casualties and asset loss in seismic disasters that occurred in Chinese rural areas. The structure of houses is crucial for assessing the vulnerability of rural houses. However, at present, available data on rural housing structure are incomplete and their spatial scales are inconsistent. This paper estimated the amount and ratio of rural houses in five structures, namely 'wood', 'brick', 'mixed', 'reinforced concrete', and 'other', for 2380 counties across China. With the percent- age sampling census data in 2005, four accuracy levels were specified. Then, a set of down-scaling models were established, where the impact of climate, economic development level and ethnic minority cultural factors on rural housing structure, as well as the spatial autocorrelation of neighboring spatial units were considered. Based on the estimation results, a database of county-level rural housing structure was established, based on which the vul- nerability of rural houses in different areas was clarified.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Based on the Hybrid Metric-Topological Map in the Ruins Environment

A map representation method with an effective map building mechanism for representation of ruins environments is presented. Based on the hybrid metric-topological map representation, the ruins environment is described at different levels, according to the morphological characteristics in the interior of ruins environments after a seismic disaster. The whole environment is described on the basis of the global topological map, to ensure the system computing capability, ambient adaptability and friendly interaction, while building a local metric map at each topological node region, to represent clearly the irregular obstacle formed by a destructive pattern. The experiments in an artificial ruins environment demonstrate that the method can realize the simultaneous localization and mapping in complex environment, which indicates the feasibility and validity of the algorithm in practical search and rescue fields.

震災被災地における観光入込客数の回復過程

震災被災地における観光入込客数の回復過程

Local Communities and the Seismic Disaster at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Local Communities and the Seismic Disaster at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

多数の地震シナリオに対する高分解能な都市震災想定のためのHPCによる基礎検討

多数の地震シナリオに対する高分解能な都市震災想定のためのHPCによる基礎検討

Characteristic and Stability Analysis for Loess Seismic Landslide in Valley City

In the light of heavy seismic landslide disasters in the valley city of loess area, 104 typical loess landslides caused by the 1654 Tianshui(Ms 8.0), 1718 Tongwei(Ms 7.5) and 1920 Haiyuan(Ms 8.5) earthquakes were studied, main landslide type and basic characteristics of seismic landslide in the valley city were analyzed. The landslides in the valley city of loess area are divided into three types: homogeneous loess landslide, loess interface landslide and loess-mudstone cutting layer landslide. Through the investigation and analysis of earthquake risk, the suggestion about the 22 dangerous landslides in Tianshui is given. The study is expected to supply scientific basis for seismic landslide disaster prevention and reduction in valley city of loess area.

Stability and Seismic Behavior of Landslide with Deep Overburden Layer in Kala Hydropower Station, China

Landslide induced by earthquakes is one of serious seismic secondary disasters. For some large-scale landslide as discussed in the study, both rigid limit equilibrium method and dynamic finite element method are applied to comparatively analyze the stability against sliding under typical working conditions, and to reveal dynamic response characteristics. Results show that rainfall and earthquake have significant influences on the stability of landslide mass, and the safety factors under rainfall and seismic conditions do not satisfy relevant specifications. The similar results are obtained by dynamic finite element method, but the safety factors are larger than that of rigid limit equilibrium method. The landslide belongs to thrust load caused landslide, featuring upper tension damage and lower shear damage. Some measures, such as cutting slope and reducing load, shear tunnel, anchor tunnel, are recommended to reinforce the landslide mass.

Efecto amplificador del suelo en la exposición al peligro sísmico de Tolhuin, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The island of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina-Chile) lies in aregion of intense seismic activity due to the interaction of theAntarctica, Scotia and South American tectonic plates. Twoseismotectonic zones in this region: the subduction trench insouthernmost Chile and the Magallanes-Fagnano fault, that crosses the island from east to west, represent a seismic hazard for the island population. Focusing on the Argentine sector of Tierra del Fuego, however, the greater threat comes from the Magallanes-Fagnano fault, which has generated seismic events in historical times of magnitude M=8. Tolhuin, a small population of 3000 inhabitants undergoing fast growth, is located 1 km from the trace of the Magallanes-Fagnano fault. Buildings in Tolhuin largely have not had seismic safety controls required by the INPRES (the Argentine seismic building code regulator). In addition, the urbanization of Tolhuin rests on a thick package of Quaternary glacigenic sediments with the potential for amplifying seismic vibrations by a factor of more than 2, judging from a simulation with EERA (Equivalent-linear Earthquake Analyses). Applying the Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas against Seismic Disasters (RADIUS) methodology, supported by the United Nations, this study analyses the seismic vulnerability of constructions in Tolhuin under the effect of a Maximum Considered Earthquake of magnitude M=8.0. The results show the importance of considering the probable local amplification through site effects. This study constitutes a first effort to provide the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego with cartographic and conceptual tools useful in planning urban growth taking into consideration seismic hazard.

What can we do about earthquakes?

This paper discusses the possible means of achieving risk reduction and resilience against earthquake disasters. It begins with an enquiry into the evolving nature of the resilience concept, which has at its root the notions of participatory governance and livelihood protection. It then discusses the potential for saving human lives by greater utilisation of the evidence base derived from studies of earthquake epidemiology. For example, there may be an opportunity to improve self-protective behaviour as a means of reducing casualties, especially in combination with knowledge of typical modes of the performance of buildings during earthquakes. There follows a discussion of the particular seismic vulnerability of critical infrastructure, hospitals and schools, and the means of reducing it by planning and well-calculated intervention. Seismic risk management needs to be comprehensive and often neglects some important factors. Hence, the next section discusses three of them: the plight of minorities, the protection of cultural heritage, and the management of veterinary emergencies. Following this, there is a discussion of the requirements for viable recovery from earthquake disasters. These include the need to make reconstruction, risk reduction and emergency intervention sustainable in their own right and part of general sustainability against all of the major risks that society faces. The paper concludes with some brief reflections on the process of learning lessons, as seen in the light of organisational learning theory. The use of evidence-based practice to achieve seismic disaster risk reduction has much further to go. To be accepted, it needs to be assimilated permanently into prevailing social and organisational cultures.

Research on the Space Layout of Urban Seismic Disaster Prevention

Based on the requirement of earthquake resistance and disaster prevention in city’s master planning, taking the city's urban disaster prevention function and safety of residents in the great earthquake, large earthquake, middle seism into account, an idea for planning the layout of seismic disaster-prevention space treating city as an object was brought forward in this thesis. Especially, we mainly studied the restrictive conditions of the urban planning and construction from urban disaster prevention and reasonably planned urban disaster prevention security space structure and layout. Then it would certainly gain the spatial pattern of disaster-prevention and obtain the right resources of earthquake emergency relief, and ensure the safety of cities against earthquake disaster.

GIS-Based Seismic Damage Estimation: Case Study for the City of Kelowna, BC

AbstractThis study integrates risk assessment tools for diagnosis of urban areas against seismic disasters (RADIUS) and geographic information system (GIS), hence forth denoted as GBR (GIS based RADIUS). The GBR is applied for seismic damage estimation of city of Kelowna, in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Ground-shaking intensity in the area was developed utilizing the seismic source zones defined by the Geological Survey of Canada and opinions from the local experts. Building inventories were compiled by aggregating data from municipal databases as well as sidewalk surveys and surveys through Google Maps. The GIS tool came in to be handy to provide a basis for effective decision making and gauge the vulnerable areas. Estimated damage and damage distributions were mapped on a block-by-block (5×5 km) basis. The assessment revealed that an earthquake scenario of M8.5 in the Cascadia Zone may potentially damage around 58 buildings within the city, causing 12 injuries. Plus, the study showed some d...

ChemInform Abstract: Mechanical Control of Nanomaterials and Nanosystems

AbstractReview: 116 refs.

A Basic Study of Open Space Information as Social Infrastructure for Wide-Range Cooperation in Large-Scale Seismic Disaster

The open space area is necessary for disaster operation such as evacuation, clean-up, and logistics and temporary housing. Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake will cause enormous damage and have far-reaching consequences. Therefore, local governments have to regulate wide-range cooperation for use of available open space area. In this study, 1) the problem schemes of open space is clarified based on the logistic process of Theory of Constraints, and 2) Geospatial distribution and size of open space area is analyzed quantitatively based on land-use database, 3) the conceptual design of the comprehensive open-space database management system is formulate considering decision-making process.

Seismic Geological Disaster Characteristics in MS 5.3 of Luhuo

Luhuo County is located in the Xianshui river fault which is a famous strong activity fault in the southwest of china. In April 10, 2011 an earthquake measuring Ms=5.3 happened near the Luhuo County , the earthquake and its secondary effect had triggered a series of geo-hazards, making the previous fragile geological environment had further deterioration and significantly increased the earthquake disaster risk of the mountain town. There are four main factors influence and control the geological disaster risks of the county, including the strong shaking effect of the earthquake fault, Qiuri River debris flows in the southern city zone, the geological hazards of Se Delong gully in the northern city zone and the group-occurring flows which threaten the county roads.

Seismic Geological Disaster Characteristics in MS 5.3 of Luhuo

Seismic Geological Disaster Characteristics in MS 5.3 of Luhuo

Regional Earthquake Disaster Macro Risk Assessment Model Research

Regional earthquake disaster macro risk assessment model can be devided into two parts:economic losses and casualities. through the compare of domestic earthquake disaster as-sessment model,the existing model evaluation index is sole,and it can not reflect the differences of urban earthquake disaster in the area,according to this we built the regional seismic disaster evaluation index system, and use the PCA method to analyze the index,and get the weights of each index,further to build the regional seismic disaster economic loss evaluation index system effectde by multiple in-dex.Take the previous data between 1996 to 2009 as an example to analyze,compare the reckoning and the existing model evaluate results,and check the effectiveness and feasibility of the model.

Mechanical Control of Nanomaterials and Nanosystems

In situations of power outage or shortage, such as periods just following a seismic disaster, the only reliable power source available is the most fundamental of forces i.e., manual mechanical stimuli. Although there are many macroscopic mechanical tools, mechanical control of nanomaterials and nanosystems has not been an easy subject to develop even by using advanced nanotechnological concepts. However, this challenge has now become a hot topic and many new ideas and strategies have been proposed recently. This report summarizes recent research examples of mechanical control of nanomaterials and nanosystems. Creation of macroscopic mechanical outputs by efficient accumulation of molecular-level phenomena is first briefly introduced. We will then introduce the main subject: control of molecular systems by macroscopic mechanical stimuli. The research described is categorized according to the respective areas of mechanical control of molecular structure, molecular orientation, molecular interaction including cleavage and healing, and biological and micron-level phenomena. Finally, we will introduce two more advanced approaches, namely, mechanical strategies for microdevice fabrication and mechanical control of molecular machines. As mechanical forces are much more reliable and widely applicable than other stimuli, we believe that development of mechanically responsive nanomaterials and nanosystems will make a significant contribution to fundamental improvements in our lifestyles and help to maintain and stabilize our society.

Investigation and Analysis on Seismic Damages of Mountain Tunnels Subjected to Wenchuan Earthquake

Wenchuan earthquake of May 12 struck China with amazement in 2008, which inflicted the devastating destruction to the public transport infrastructures in Sichuan province. Generally speaking, underground structures have the stronger seismic resistance performance compared to ground-level structures. However, seismic disasters of mountain tunnels were fairly conspicuous after the earthquake. Based on the references about tunnel earthquake damages at home and abroad (Dowding and Rozen, 1978; Huo, 2005; Rozen, 1976; Youssef, 2001; wang, 2001), more attentions should be paid to the prevention and mitigation of tunnel seismic hazards under severe intensity earthquakes. This paper describes some typical earthquake damages to mountain tunnels during Wenchuan earthquake and presents the basic characteristics of the tunnel seismic damage as well. Meanwhile, the possible reasons for the seismic damage and the corresponding measures for relieving or resisting the damage are also given.