EEFIT Mission to Maule Chile 27th February earthquake
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Civil Engineering
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Adam Crewe (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Escribano D
(2011)
Performance of pile-supported bridges in liquefiable soils during major earthquakes
in Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering
Lubkowski Z
(2011)
The MW8.8 Maule Chile Earthquake of 27th February 2010
Daniella Escribano. Leiva
(2010)
Observed geotechnical damage during the 2010 Chile Earthquake
Adam Crewe
(2010)
EEFIT Technical Meeting: 27 February 2010, Maule, Chile Earthquake
| Description | Assessment of the damage from this earthquake raised a number of specific issues: Generally the infrastructure performed well, especially compared to the damage after the Haiti earthquake. This was also evidenced by the relatively small number of fatalities (about 750) considering the size of the earthquake. In particular most modern buildings performed well under roughly code level ground shaking suggesting that the current design codes in Chile are generally adequate. Where problems occurred these appeared to be caused by building irregularities, often as a result of architectural features. In Santiago and Concepción there were a few unexpected catastrophic failures of new buildings. The reasons for the failures are not completely clear but could have been a result of poor construction or inadequate foundations. The failures of these modern buildings also lead to significant public anger against the companies who had constructed these (apparently) poorly-performing buildings. There were some notable failures of older bridges in Concepción. The failures were probably caused by poor ground conditions which was visible at the waterfront as lateral spreading, settlement of abutments and liquefaction. The modern bridges performed well. Throughout the area affected by the earthquake there was significant damage to older masonry and adobe buildings. In several of the smaller towns visited almost every building had been damaged or destroyed with the result that many of the local people had had to leave the area. It was clear that the size of the affected area had meant that even 4 weeks after the event government emergency response teams had been struggling to get to all outlying towns and villages to assess the extent of the damage. |
| Exploitation Route | Some of the more unusual damage noted may be of interest to those who update seismic design codes in the future. |
| Sectors | Construction |
| URL | http://www.istructe.org/webtest/files/75/75e4cc0c-34d9-4f40-b797-c80f40370e1a.pdf |
| Description | Information collected in post earthquake reconnaissance missions has been disseminated widely through the earthquake engineering community in the UK and has an effect on the way companies design and detail structures in earthquake prone areas such that errors observed are avoided in the future. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Construction |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |