Effects of Earthquake

Urban growth – Izmit/Turkey, Aug 17, 1999

Direct effects of earthquakes

 Shaking
 Landslides
 Liquefaction
 Tsunamis

Shaking Hazards on Structures

Most earthquake-related deaths are caused by the collapse of structures and the construction practices
play a tremendous role in the death toll of an earthquake. In southern Italy in 1909 more than 100,000
people perished in an earthquake that struck the region. Almost half of the people living in the region
of Messina were killed due to the easily collapsible structures that dominated the villages of the region.
A larger earthquake that struck San Francisco three years earlier had killed fewer people (about 700)
because building construction practices were different type (predominantly wood). Survival rates in the
San Francisco earthquake was about 98%, that in the Messina earthquake was between 33% and 45%)
(Zebrowski,1997). Building practices can make all the difference in earthquakes, even a moderate
rupture beneath a city with structures unprepared for shaking can produce tens of thousands of
casualties.

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The following occurrences happen with structures during earthquake:
 The whole building including contents are shaken from the position of rest
 The earthquake motion results into vibration of the building along its all three axes
 The movement is reversible in direction. The number of cycles per second depends on the
characteristics of earthquake as well as the structure
 Inertia forces are created on the masses due to ground acceleration. These are proportional to the
mass of the system. Lighter the material, smaller will be the earthquake force
 Additional vertical load effect is caused on beams and columns due to vertical vibrations. Being
reversible, at certain instant of time the effective load is increased, at others it is decreased
 The supporting members, walls or columns which were carrying only vertical loads before the
earthquake, have now to carry horizontal bending and shearing effects as well
 The dumping in the building system has the effect to reduce the effective accelerations on the masses
and higher the dumping greater is the reduction
 The dynamic and damage behavior of a building is a function of the stiffness and strength
characteristics of the structural elements.

When we discussed earthquake intensity we discussed some of the basic factors that affect the
amplitude and duration of shaking produced by an earthquake (earthquake size, distance from fault,
site and regional geology, etc.) and as you are aware, the shaking caused by seismic waves can cause
damage buildings or cause buildings to collapse. The level of damage done to a structure depends on
the amplitude and the duration of shaking. The amplitudes are largest close to large earthquakes and
the duration generally increases with the size of the earthquake (larger quakes shake longer because
they rupture larger areas). Regional geology can affect the level and duration of shaking but more
important are local site conditions. Although the process can be complicated for strong shaking,
generally shaking in soft sediments is larger and longer than when compared with the shaking
experienced at a "hard rock" site.

When the ground shakes, buildings respond to the accelerations transmitted from the ground through
the structure's foundation. The inertia of the building (it wants to stay at rest) can cause shearing of the
structure which can concentrate stresses on the weak walls or joints in the structure resulting in failure
or perhaps total collapse. The type of shaking and the frequency of shaking depends on the structure.
Tall buildings tend to amplify the motions of longer period motions when compared with small
buildings. Each structure has a resonance frequency that is characteristic of the building. Predicting the
precise behavior of buildings is complicated, a rule of thumb is that the period of resonance is about
equal to 0.1 times the number of stories in the structure. Thus Macelwane Hall resonates at about 0.3
seconds period, and Griesedeck at about 1.4 seconds.

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Taller buildings also tend to shake longer than short buildings, which can make them relatively more
susceptible to damage. Fortunately many tall buildings are constructed to withstand strong winds and
some precautions have been taken to reduce their tendency to shake. And they can be made resistant to
earthquake vibrations.

In many regions of limited resources and/or old structures, the structures are not very well suited to
earthquake induced strains and collapse of adobe-style construction has caused thousands of deaths in
the last decade. The worst possible structure for earthquake regions is the unreinforced masonry.

Not only buildings, but also other important structures and life lines:

 Dams
 Towers
 Power plants
 Water treatment plants
 Roads
 Bridges and culverts
 Electricity
 Water supply
 Gas lines
 Oil lines
 Telecommunication

Failure of retaining wall due to ground movement, Loma Prieta, in Santa Cruz Mountains area

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Chi-Chi earthquake Taiwan, Sept 21, 1999

Lateral spreading mode of ground failure, Loma Prieta

FIRE COMES AFTER EARTHQUAKE

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Fire
When the fire following an earthquake starts, if becomes difficult to extinguish it, since a strong
earthquake is accompanied by the loss of water supply and traffic jams. Therefore, the earthquake
damage increases with the earthquake-induced fire in addition to the damage to building directly due to
earthquake.

Landslides

A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, including
rock falls. Typically, the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur though
in this case there was another contributing factor which affected the original slope stability: the
landslide required an earthquake trigger before being released. Often unstable regions of hillsides or
mountains fail due to earthquake. In addition to the obvious hazard posed by large landslides, even
non lethal slides can cause problems when they block highways they can be inconvenient or cause
problems for emergency and rescue operations.

In 1970 an earthquake off the coast of Peru produced a landslide than began 80 miles away from the
earthquake. The slide was large (witnesses estimated it's height at about 30 meters or 100 feet),
traveled at more than one-hundred miles per hour and plowed through part of one village and
annihilated another, killing more than 18,000 people.

Fig: Landslide after Peru Earthquake

Fig: Landslide rock smashing a car, 2008 Sichuan earthquake

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Ground subsidence

During earth-ground shaking, compaction of soil particles occurs because the individual soil grains are
rearranged to take up less space. When the volume of soil is reduced in this manner, the land settles,
forming a depression. The settlement results in tilting of the land and the formation of cracks and
fissures, causing damage to buildings, roads, bridges, and pipelines. Soils that are easily compressed
are the most likely to create subsidence, for example, filled lands in swampy areas.

Sand blow

In some cases, when the surface is underlain by a saturated, sand rich layer of soil, prolonged shaking
can cause the expulsion of fluid from the sand layer resulting in large "sand blows" that erupt through
the overlying strata.

Fig: In the 1811-12 earthquakes the sand blows were enormous and covered large regions of the
Missouri bootheel.

Liquefaction

Soil liquefaction describes the behavior of soils that, when loaded, suddenly go from a solid state to a
liquefied state, or having the consistency of a heavy liquid. Liquefaction is more likely to occur in
loose to moderate saturated granular soils with poor drainage, such as silty sands or sands and gravels
capped or containing seams of impermeable sediments. During loading, usually cyclic undrained
loading, e.g. earthquake loading, loose sands tend to decrease in volume, which produces an increase
in their porewater pressures and consequently a decrease in shear strength, i.e. reduction in effective
stress.

Deposits most susceptible to liquefaction are young (Holocene-age, deposited within the last 10,000
years) sands and silts of similar grain size (well-sorted), in beds at least several feet thick, and
saturated with water. Such deposits are often found along riverbeds, beaches, dunes, and areas where
windblown silt (loess) and sand have accumulated. Some examples of liquefaction include quicksand,
quick clay, turbidity currents, and earthquake liquefaction.

Depending on the initial void ratio, the soil material can respond to loading either strain-softening or
strain-hardening. Strain-softened soils, e.g. loose sands, can be triggered to collapse, either
monotonically or cyclically, if the static shear stress is greater than the ultimate or steady-state shear
strength of the soil. In this case flow liquefaction occurs, where the soil deforms at a low constant
residual shear stress. If the soil strain-hardens, e.g. moderately dense to dense sand, flow liquefaction
will generally not occur. However, cyclic softening can occur due to cyclic undrained loading, e.g.
earthquake loading. Deformation during cyclic loading will depend on the density of the soil, the
magnitude and duration of the cyclic loading, and amount of shear stress reversal. If stress reversal
occurs, the effective shear stress could reach zero, then cyclic liquefaction can take place. If stress
reversal does not occur, zero effective stress is not possible to occur, then cyclic mobility takes place.

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The resistance of the cohesionless soil to liquefaction will depend on the density of the soil, confining
stresses, soil structure (fabric, age and cementation), the magnitude and duration of the cyclic loading,
and the extent to which shear stress reversal occurs.

Although the effects of liquefaction have been long understood, it was more thoroughly brought to the
attention of engineers and seismologists in the 1964 Niigata, Japan and Alaska earthquakes. It was also
a major factor in the destruction in San Francisco's Marina District during the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake.

Liquefaction can cause damage to structures in several ways. Buildings whose foundations bear
directly on sand which liquefies will experience a sudden loss of support, which will result in drastic
and irregular settlement of the building. Liquefaction causes irregular settlements in the area liquefied,
which can damage buildings and break underground utility lines where the differential settlements are
large. Pipelines and ducts may float up through the liquefied sand. Sand boils can erupt into buildings
through utility openings, and may allow water to damage the structure or electrical systems. Soil
liquefaction can also cause slope failures. Areas of land reclamation are often prone to liquefaction
because many are reclaimed with hydraulic fill, and are often underlain by soft soils which can amplify
earthquake shaking. Soil liquefaction was a major factor in the destruction in San Francisco's Marina
District during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Mitigating potential damage from liquefaction is part
of the field of geotechnical engineering.

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 Some effects of liquefaction during the 1964 Niigata, Japan earthquake

Liquefaction allowed this sewer to float upward

Surface faulting

During earthquake, there is sometimes a discontinuity of movement on the two sides of a boundary
line consisting of a narrow belt of land. This band is called a fault. There are three main types of faults.
Normal faults, reverse faults and lateral faults. Normal faults occur due to the tension of overlying
block moving down the fault plane. Reverse faults occur due to the compression of overlying block
moving up the fault plane. Lateral faults occur when, due to either type of stress, the blocks move
horizontally past one another. There are faults also where there was no movement (Joints - No
Movement). Surface faulting affects a long narrow zone, the total area of which is small compared
with the total area affected by ground shaking.

Surface rupture

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Tsunamis

A sometimes dramatic byproduct of certain types of earthquakes is tsunami. Tsunami is a Japanese

term that means "harbor wave". Tsunamis are frequently confused with tidal waves, but they have
nothing to do with the tides, they are the result of a sudden vertical offset in the ocean floor caused by
earthquakes, submarine landslides, and volcanic deformation. In 1883 the volcanic eruption of
Krakatoa resulted in the collapse of a caldera that initiated a tsunami which killed 36,000 people on
nearby islands. On June 25, 1896 an earthquake off the Japanese coast generated a tsunami that hit the
shore with wave heights ranging from 10 to 100 feet. As the fishing fleets returned to shore following
an overnight trip they found their villages destroyed and 22,000 people dead. In the last century more
than 50,000 people have died as a result of tsunamis.

A sudden offset changes the elevation of the ocean and initiates a water wave that travels outward from
the region of sea-floor disruption. Tsunamis can travel all the way across the ocean and large
earthquakes in Alaska and Chile have generated waves that caused damage and deaths in regions as far
away as California, Hawaii and Japan.

Tsunamis are initiated by a sudden displacement of the ocean, commonly caused

by vertical deformation of the ocean floor during earthquakes. Other causes
such as deformation by landslides and volcanic processes also generate
tsunamis.

The speed of this wave depends on the ocean depth and is typically about as fast as a commercial
passenger jet (about 0.2 km/s or 712 km/hr). This is relatively slow compared to seismic waves, so we
are often alerted to the dangers of the tsunami by the shaking before the wave arrives. The trouble is
that the time to react is not very long in regions close to the earthquake that caused the tsunami.

In deep water tsunamis are not large and pose no danger. They are very broad
with horizontal wavelengths of hundreds of kilometers and surface heights
much much smaller, about one meter.

Tsunamis pose no threat in the deep ocean because they are only a meter or so high in deep water. But
as the wave approaches the shore and the water shallows, all the energy that was distributed throughout
the ocean depth becomes concentrated in the shallow water and the wave height increases.

When a tsunami approaches the shore, the water depth decreases, the front of
the wave slows down, the wave grows dramatically, and surges on land.

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Typical heights for large tsunamis are on the order of 10s of meters and a few have approached 90
meters (about 300 feet). These waves are typically more devastating to the coastal region than the
shaking of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. Even the more common tsunamis of about 10-20
meters can "wipe clean" coastal communities.

Deadly tsunamis occur about every one to two years and they have at times killed thousands of people.
In 1992-93 three large tsunamis occurred: one in Japan, Indonesia, and Nicaragua. All struck at night
and devastated the local communities.

Probable Effects of EQ in Dhaka:

The probable scenario for an earthquake to a scale of M6.5 or above in Dhaka city could cause:

1. Panic among the city dwellers and no knowledge of what is to be done during and
immediately after the eq. occurrence.
2. Possible sinking of many of the buildings on filled earth with shallow foundations due to
the liquefaction effect.
3. If the eq. occurs during monsoon time possible damage of the Dhaka flood protection
embankment due to liquefaction effect causing sudden submergence of a large area.
4. Large scale damage and some collapse of poorly constructed and/or old buildings.
5. Possible outbreak of fire in most of the buildings from the gas lines (the residential ovens
are mostly in burning condition from morning to mid-night)
6. Possible damage of power installations and power cut off for indefinite period.
7. Water supply failure as almost all the deep tube wells are run by power, and possible water
line damage
8. Damage of roads and blockage of traffic due to falling of debris from collapsed buildings
and other installations on or near roads.
9. Some of the hospital buildings may collapse killing a large number of inmates and stopping
medical facilities for the disaster victims.
10. Some of the school building may collapse killing and injuring a large number of students
11. An after shock may cause further collapse of many of the already damaged buildings.
12. A few rescue equipment, whatever are available, can not be operated due to the lack of
guidance, availability of operators, some will be non-functional, some will be under the
rubbles, some can not find access to rescue spots due to road blockage, etc.
13. Limited access from outside as most or the highways/bridges, airport will not be functional.

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