When earthquakes occur, it is the older buildings that often collapse first because they are not engineered to resist powerful earthquake forces. Those newer buildings, however, that look structurally sound often sustain non-structural damage that, despite appearances, can become unusable. This is what happened last week in Christchurch, resulting in many buildings that can no longer be occupied.
Last week our firm sent in an investigative team of structural engineers to assess the damage to Christchurch. As engineers, what we found was quite shocking but not unexpected: 30-50% of buildings constructed of unreinforced masonry (URM) sustained severe damage or collapsed. By comparison, the total damage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a result of last year’s earthquake was less from a percentage standpoint than what was experienced in downtown Christchurch last week. Several older non-ductile concrete buildings (existing structures that fail in a brittle manner under the load of an earthquake) have also been severely damaged or collapsed.
These findings provide proof that countries and cities that do not have mandatory retrofit ordinances for hazardous buildings are exposed to tremendous risk – not only in New Zealand, but everywhere else in the world.
Our team also observed that many, newer buildings experienced significant non-structural damage, which is dangerous for building inhabitants and greatly impacts functionality and business continuity.
People in cities situated in areas of high earthquake risk may have a false sense of security because they do not fully understand the intent of most building codes and equate code compliance to mean earthquake-proof. In fact, even in advanced earthquake engineering countries such as New Zealand, the US and Japan, most building codes are minimum guidelines for “life safety” only and have often proven to be inadequate for building sustainability, and at times, survivability.
Buildings must be better designed for disasters. Mandatory URM and non-ductile concrete structure retrofit ordinances must be put in place to save lives. And high-performance earthquake engineering must be practiced for sustainability of new buildings so they can support continued functionality of cities after a disaster. This must be done worldwide.
Together with my team, I have spent the past 13 months in Haiti working with the Ministry of Public Works, the United Nations and the Pan American Development Foundation assisting Haitian engineers to assess the damage to 400,000 buildings and repair 2,000 damaged houses as a USAID pilot project. The tragedy has to be experienced to be understood. Hiroshima is one of the great disasters of the twentieth century and has a firm place in our historical imaginations. The bomb killed 200,000 people. Yet, in terms of the loss of human life, Haiti’s earthquake caused even greater loss – over 230,000 lives.
The unfortunate truth is that engineers have predicted major earthquakes in Christchurch and Port-au-Prince for years. Of course, we could not say when but we knew there was a high probability of another earthquake. Little was done by the respective governments or the private sector. How distressing to realize that with proper engineering, much of the loss of life, structural damage and financial loss could have been reduced significantly.
Today, we know enough about constructing seismic-resistant buildings that allow them to withstand large earthquakes, protect their inhabitants and allow businesses to continue functioning. That said, today’s earthquake damage repair technology has also advanced so that in the next 24 months 100,000 homes in Haiti can be repaired with local materials and masons so that they are safer than before and can be reoccupied by their inhabitants, allowing them to leave the terrible conditions in the tent cities.
Preparing for disasters is not difficult. Responsible governments, the private sector and residents must act on the knowledge that these events can be anticipated and preparations must be made for their eventual occurrence, thereby saving lives and minimizing damage.
Dr. Miyamoto is President and CEO of Miyamoto International, a global earthquake and structural engineering firm.
Related Stories
Glass and Glazing | Aug 22, 2016
Tianmen Mountain glass skywalk opens to the public
Acrophobics beware: China’s Zhangjiajie National Forest Park just got a little bit (or a lot) more terrifying.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Aug 22, 2016
The Hills of Governors Island reach completion one year ahead of schedule
The man made hills are the latest attraction to open on the island that has been under development since 2006.
| Aug 19, 2016
RECONSTRUCTION GIANTS: Facelifts give buildings new identities, even as they keep a few wrinkles
Reconstruction is always a balancing act between the client’s pro forma and what the building needs to be vibrant again.
| Aug 19, 2016
Top 70 Reconstruction Engineering Firms
Jacobs, Robins & Morton, and The Boldt Company top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest reconstruction sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 18, 2016
LOCAL GOVERNMENT GIANTS: A ranking of the nation’s top design and construction firms in local sector work
HOK, Stantec, Turner Construction Co.,Clark Group, AECOM and STV top Building Design+Construction’s annual rankings of the nation’s largest local government sector AEC firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 18, 2016
STATE GOVERNMENT GIANTS: A ranking of the nation’s top design and construction firms in state sector work
CannonDesign, Stantec, Turner Construction Co.,Mortensen Construction, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff and AECOM top Building Design+Construction’s annual rankings of the nation’s largest state government sector AEC firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 15, 2016
SPORTS FACILITY GIANTS: New and renovated college sports venues - designed to serve students and the community
Schools are renovating existing structures or building new sports facilities that can serve the student body and surrounding community.
| Aug 15, 2016
Top 30 Sports Facility Engineering Firms
AECOM, Thornton Tomasetti, and ME Engineers top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest sports facility sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 15, 2016
MILITARY GIANTS: Cross-laminated timber construction gets a salute from the Army
By privatizing the construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and ownership of its hotels the Army expects to cut a 20-year timetable for repairs and replacement of its lodging down to eight years.
| Aug 12, 2016
SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY GIANTS: Incubator model is reimagining research and lab design
Interdisciplinary interaction is a common theme among many new science and technology offices.