Technical University Gh.

Asachi, Faculty of Civil Engineering

Iasi, Romania

Large earthquakes of the world. Case study: Kobe,

Japan, 1995, January 17
Atasiei Raul Constantin
Group: 3404
Study Year: IV
Section: Civil Engineering

Facts:
The earthquake took place on 17th January 1995, at 5:46 am (local
time).It had a magnitude of 7.2 (Richter scale) and lasted for 20 seconds.
Epicenter: 34.6 N 135.0 E Awajishima Island, 20 miles south of Kobe :
population 1.5 million, Japan's sixth largest city, world's sixth largest port .

Tectonic Setting of the Kobe Earthquake:

The following map shows the location, plate tectonic setting, and
earthquake history, for the January 1995, Kobe earthquake.

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There are two classes of earthquake effects: direct, and secondary.

Direct effects are solely those related to the deformation of the ground near
the earthquake fault itself. Thus direct effects are limited to the area of the
exposed fault rupture. Many earthquake faults (such as at Northridge)
never break the surface, ruling out direct effects. In the Hyogo-Ken Nanbu
event, surface rupture of the fault was observed only in a rural area of Awaji
Island, with displacements of up to 3 meters. Few structures were near
enough the fault to be damaged by the displacement, although underground
utilities, fences, and irrigation ditches were cut. Rice paddies were thrown
far out of level.
In the northern part of Awajishima Island, it has been confirmed that
an earthquake fault with large movement was formed. This fault, 9 km long,
is a consequence of the movement of an existing fault known as the "Nojima
Fault" which runs along west coast of Awajishima Island from the north end
to middle.

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Earthquake faults, damages to roads and railways, liquefaction at

reclaimed lands, fires, crushed houses, landsides were all manifested in this
very destructive seismic shift.
Aerial view of the fault rupture on northern Awaji Island, taken on
January 18th, the day after the event. From left to right along the rupture, a
landslide from the rupture covers a road; a fault scarp across a rice paddy; a
right-lateral offset in a dirt road (inset); and three more pointers to the
scarp. Note how little damage there apparently is to homes even very close
to the fault.

Most of the damage done by earthquakes is due to their secondary

effects, those not directly caused by fault movement, but resulting instead
from the propagation of seismic waves away from the fault rupture.
Secondary effects result from the very temporary passage of seismic waves,
but can occur over very large regions, causing wide-spread damage. Such
effects include: seismic shaking; landslides; liquefaction; fissuring;

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settlement; and the triggering of aftershocks and additional

earthquakes.

Seismogram from Caltech

The great differences in secondary effects even between adjacent

localities is shown by this map of instrumentally-recorded ground
accelerations and velocities. Although the measurements do fall with
distance from the epicenter, adjacent sites can vary by more than 50%. Such
variation is usually caused by variation in the soil conditions.
Since most seismic shaking is side-to-side, a shaken structure will
undergo shear as this house front in Kobe did. Shear is the bending of right
angles to other angles. As it is much more difficult to shear a triangle than a
rectangle, effective seismic design requires triangular bracing for shear
strength.

Earthquake Engineering

This wooden house collapsed during the seismic shaking. It is likely

that its heavy roof of ceramic tile created more shear force than its wood
frame was built to resist. Tile roofs are popular in Japan.

Behind this completely collapsed wood-frame house is a house of

reinforced concrete that suffered no structural damage. The number of wood
versus masonry buildings that collapsed in Kobe astonished most observers,
as wood-frame structures are usually thought to be much better at resisting
shear forces. Possibly the concrete house was better-designed and stronger

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even for its greater weight. The proportionally heavier tile roofs on wooden
houses also might have been a factor.

Effects on Lifelines:
Debris choking streets was just one of the coincidences that made
this earthquake so deadly. Almost all utilities, roadways, railways, the port,
and other lifelines to the city center suffered severe damage, greatly
delaying rescue efforts. Most lifelines in Kobe were constructed 20-30 years
ago, before the most modern construction standards were put into practice.

This elevated highway formed an inverted pendulum that the

supporting columns were not able to restrain under shear during seismic
shaking. The columns above show a failure typical of somewhat older
reinforced concrete structures throughout the world. The vertical steel rods
can hold the weight of the structure just fine when that weight is exerted
straight down, as usual. During seismic shaking much more steel wound
around the rods horizontally can keep the column from breaking apart under
the shear forces. Stronger columns are more expensive to build.

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Large sections of the main Hanshin Expressway toppled over. This

was particularly likely where the road crossed areas of softer, wetter ground,
where the shaking was stronger and lasted longer.

Fire:

The destruction of lifelines and utilities made it impossible for

firefighters to reach fires started by broken gas lines. Large sections of the
city burned, greatly contributing to the loss of life.
Most of the destruction of San Francisco from the 1906 earthquake
was also due to fire. The city installed an entirely independent water system
for firefighting, with its own reservoirs. The 1989 earthquake broke a
firefighting water main near the Mission Street Post Office, draining the
entire system in less than 15 minutes. Fortunately most damage and fires
were confined to low-lying districts of the city near the Bay, and fireboats

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were available to pump bay water as much as one mile inland. Only a few
blocks were lost.

Liquefaction:
One of the reasons that areas of soft, water-saturated soil are
hazardous is their potential to liquefy during strong seismic shaking. The
shaking can suspend sand grains in waterlogged soil so that they loose
contact and friction with other grains. Soil in a state of liquefaction has no
strength and cannot bear any load.

In Short:
Direct and Indirect Costs:
$200 Billion in damages (4% of Japan's GDP)
$100 Billion to restore basic functions
$50 Billion in losses due to economic dislocation and business interruption
$50 Billion in losses of private property
Structural Damage (Buildings):
144,032 Buildings destroyed by ground shaking
7,456 Buildings destroyed by fire
82,091 Collapsed buildings
86,043 Severely damaged buildings
Structural Damage (Highways/ Bridges/Ports):
All Kobe ports shut down to international shipping
Damage to containing loader piers
All access to Kobe via highway and railway blocked
Miscellaneous Facts:
Largest peak accelerations 0.8g to greater than 1g

Earthquake Engineering

300,000 People were left homeless

Biography:
http://www.seismo.unr.edu
http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/land/kobe.html
http://www.dis-inc.com/kobe.htm
http://www.vibrationdata.com/earthquakes/kobe.htm
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/geo/research/Kobe/Somerville/qnews.html
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/geo/research/Kobe/KobeReport/contents.html
http://www.kananet.com/kobequake/3e-links.htm