The two frame office towers, constructed in the 1970s per the 1967 edition of the UBC, use perimeter reinforced concrete moment frames to resist seismic loading. The buildings are rectangular in plan and have certain characteristics that adversely affect their seismic performance, in particular the presence of a soft-story response […]
Cost-effective Seismic Isolation Retrofit of Heritage Cathedrals in Haiti
H. Kit Miyamoto and Amir SJ Gilani In the past earthquakes, heritage buildings have sustained severe damage and collapse in recent earthquakes, including in Italy (2009), Haiti (2010) and New Zealand (2011). For these buildings, the main vertical and lateral load bearing members typically use variations of unreinforced masonry stone/rubble […]
Damage Assessment and Seismic Retrofit of Buildings Following the 2015 Nepal and 2016 Ecuador Earthquakes
H. Kit Miyamoto, Ph.D., SE and Amir SJ Gilani, Ph.D., SE The M-7.8 earthquakes (Nepal 2015 and Ecuador 2016) caused massive damage to the built environment and affected societies severely. In Nepal, the earthquake caused nearly 9,000 fatalities and destroyed more than 600,000 structures. Economic impact was roughly a quarter […]
2015 ASCE Seismic Viscous Dampers: Enhanced performance and cost effective application of PBE
H. Kit Miyamoto, Amir SJ Gilani Performance-based design with seismic protection devices such as viscous dampers have fundamentally altered the landscape of earthquake engineering and design. Structures designed and built without such devices typically use a code-prescribed design that implies extensive structural damage, loss of operation, and likely replacement at […]
Design of Structures with Dampers per ASCE 7-16 and Performance for Large Earthquakes
An impediment to the use of seismic protection devices has been the difficulty for practicing engineers to design buildings with isolation system or damping devices. ASCE/SEI task committees charged with development of new generation of codes for seismic design and retrofit of buildings have updated the relevant code sections with […]
Damage Assessment of Seismic Retrofit Midrise Buildings Nepal WCEE 2017
The magnitude-7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 and its many aftershocks, including the magnitude-7.3 aftershock on May 12, 2015, caused massive damage to the built environment in Nepal. Near the epicenter, it had a maximum Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of IX. It is estimated that it caused over 9000 fatalities and […]
Cost-Effective Seismic Isolation Retrofit of Heritage Cathedrals in Haiti WCEE 2017
Historic and heritage have sustained severe damage and collapse in recent earthquakes, including in Italy (2009), Haiti (2010) and New Zealand (2011). The main vertical and lateral load bearing members for these buildings are typically comprised of unreinforced masonry stone/rubblewalls. These walls have experienced both in plane and out-of-plane failures […]
Seismic Viscous Dampers A Cost-Effective Solution with Enhanced Performance for Retrofit and New Construction
The application of seismic protection devices such as dampers has fundamentally altered the landscape of earthquake engineering and design. Structures designed and built without such devices typically use a code-prescribed design that implies extensive structural damage, loss of operation, and likely replacement at design-level events. By contrast, seismic design incorporating earthquake protection devices leads […]
Seismic Isolation Retrofit of a Historical Cathedral in Haiti
The 2010 Haiti Earthquake devastated the country and resulted in many casualties and enormous damage to infrastructure. Following the event, the authors visited the country, conducted a damage assessment program, and developed retrofit programs. While the bulk of retrofit has focused on traditional upgrade of residential units, seismic protection devices […]
Global Experience: Seismic Risk Reduction And Disaster Reconstruction Programs
Nearly 40% of the largest cities in the world and hundreds of millions of people live in areas that can experience major earthquakes, resulting in large numbers of casualties, and placing a large burden on the regional and national economy. Earthquakes in Haiti and Christchurch have had long-term impact on […]
