Jembatan Siti Nurbaya bridge
Jembatan Siti Nurbaya is the most substantial bridge over the Batang Arau, located at the South of the city center spanning roughly 70m. The bridge is approximately 10m wide and is a standard concrete box girder. The bridge itself faired very well in the September 30th earthquake with no apparent damage. The approaches, which consist […]
Padang Fire Department and Early Search and Rescue Operations
The Fire Department had practiced a preparedness drill in February, 2009 that improved performance in the 9/30 and 10/1 earthquakes. The training for preparedness included all city agencies and proved quite effective. The City of Padang now has a new form of preparedness planning under the BPPD (City Planning Department). The Fire Department is the […]
Chile Recovers From 2010 M8.8 Earthquake
Read the Report: Chile Recovers From 2010 M8.8 Earthquake (1.0 MB PDF) For further updates from MRP Engineering of the recovery in Chile please visit the MRP website
Lessons from Haiti and Chile and How to Prepare for Future Disasters
As Haiti and Chile move from disaster response to recovery–and after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook northern Mexico and southern California Sunday–it is time to step back and extract larger lessons from the quakes in Haiti and Chile. The first lesson is that Haiti and Chile are worlds apart. In its 2009 Human Development Index, […]
Preliminary report from CSSC Team
See the Google reconnaissance map: Baja Earthquake M7.2 April 4, 2010aja Earthquake M7.2 April 4, 2010 If you have trouble getting in, send Fred and email at FredTurnerSE@gmail.com This map will be updated with a few notes and more points from the field visit and possibly more links in a few days. In addition, Fred posted a […]
Coming Out of the Cupboard: Social Media in the Christchurch Earthquake.
Imagine for a moment that you recently traveled to a foreign country to study. You just arrived a few days ago. You are settling in, trying to adjust to the new surrounds, attempting to make friends, and struggling to understand the language and culture. Then a massive earthquake hits. What would you do after the […]
Safety Assessment Efforts in Canterbury
New Zealand’s safety assessment protocols for buildings are similar to those in the U.S. for placing red (unsafe), yellow (restricted access) or green (inspected) placards on buildings so we were somewhat familiar and generally helpful in documentation of the placarding and in making decisions. Responsibility for each team’s decisions were principally delegated to Certified Professional Engineers from other […]
Briefing on Safety Assessment Progress
63,823 buildings have been assessed. Of those, 1,55 residential building have been posted red so far. 340 out of 849 heritage buildings have been posted red. Of the commercial buildings placarded, 730 are red, 756 yellow, and 2029 are green. Controversies about the deconstruction of a few heritage buildings are brewing. 24 buildings have been approved […]
Observations from the EERI Reconnaissance Team
Communicating (and Exaggerating?) Risk
Cantabrians have been following the meteorological and seismological predictions of Auckland-based Ken Ring, also known as “the moon-man.” Mr. Ring associates extreme meteorological and geophysical events with king tides and lunar proximity. On this basis Mr. Ring has issued predictions of major aftershocks in Christchurch. Earth-moon distance varies by about 14% on a lunar-cycle and an […]