Quantitative Lessons from the Earthquake Sequence that Affected South-East Turkey in 2023

Presentation

When – 2nd August 2023

Where – Building 405-470, 20 Symonds Street (University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering). Access from Symonds Street (Refer City Campus Map Link).

Agenda –
17:30 pre-presentation refreshments
18:00 presentation

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Abstract

Evidence is presented showing that without better drift control, structures built in Turkey and other countries with building codes allowing large seismic drifts are likely to keep leaving a wide wake of damage ranging from partition damage to irreparable structural damage and collapse. Following the earthquake sequence affecting South-East Turkey in 2023, a team led by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 133 surveyed nearly 250 reinforced concrete buildings in the area extending from Antakya to Malatya. Buildings with 2 to 16 stories were surveyed to classify their damage and the robustness of their structures with respect to overall stiffness, as measured by relative cross-sectional areas of structural walls and columns. The majority of the buildings were estimated to have been built in the past 10 years. Yet, the structures surveyed were observed to have amounts of structural walls and columns comparable with amounts reported after the 1992 Erzincan, 1999 Duzce, and 2003 Bingol Earthquakes in Turkey. These amounts are, on average, much smaller than wall and column amounts used in Chile and Japan. Because of that lack of robustness and given the intensities of the motions reported from Antakya to Malatya (with 10 stations with PGV of 100 cm/s or more), it is concluded that structures in this region drifted too much. Excessive drift 1) exposed a myriad of construction and detailing problems leading to severe structural damage and collapse, 2) induced overturning caused by p-delta for some buildings, and 3) caused widespread damage to brittle masonry partitions. The main lesson is simple: ductility is necessary but not sufficient. It is urgent that seismic drift limits are tightened in high- seismicity regions worldwide.

Biography

Santiago Pujol is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Prior to moving to New Zealand, he was Professor of Civil Engineering at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University. His experience includes: earthquake engineering, evaluation and strengthening of existing structures, response of reinforced concrete to impulsive loads and earthquake demands, instrumentation and testing of structures, and failure investigations. He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and member of ACI committees 445 (Torsion and Shear), 314 (Simplified Design), 133 (Disaster Reconnaissance), and 318R (High-Strength Reinforcement). He is also member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), associate editor of Earthquake Spectra, and founder of datacenterhub.org (a site funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and dedicated to the systematic collection of research data). He received the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research from ACI, the Educational Award from Architectural Institute of Japan, and the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from ASCE.

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