Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Learning From Earthquakes

Overview of Damage to Roads and Bridges in Nishihara Area

Overview of Nishihara Area Nishihara area is located 10km northeast from Mashiki town and faces Minami-Aso village on its east end. The area is located on the Futagawa fault zone which showed slips around 2m at the ground surface (right strike-slip fault) [1]. The activity of the Futagawa fault caused severe damage to roads and […]

Overview of the Damage of Bridges in Aso area

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes includes the main shock earthquake with Mw=7.0 on April 16 and a foreshock earthquake with Mw=6.2 on April 14. Such earthquakes caused strong response and significant damage to bridges. In this article, three damaged bridges in Aso area are reviewed. This area is characterized by active volcanos and soft ground composed […]

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake: Overview of damage to roads and bridges

Overview of damage investigations conducted after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake Damage investigations that have been conducted after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake are listed below in chronological order. Key words and points are listed after each investigation to help direct readers to reports of interest. 04/14/2016 9:26pm: The “foreshock” 04/15/2016 Hata: Damage to houses and roads […]

Bridge collapse: Avenida de las Americas – Guayaquil

An important bridge collapsed at Avenida de las Americas in Guayaquil during the 7.8M earthquake that struck Ecuador on April 16, 2016. The 30 year old bridge was located 280 Km away from the epicenter. One person was reported dead because of this collapse. The figures displayed below, courtesy of Dr. Vinicio Suarez who experienced the earthquake, […]

Alternative Routes & Access Constraints Map as of 04 May 2016

The following are updates on road and bridge operations as of May 4th, 2016. The Chillanes-Bucay road in Bolívar remains closed. The Santo Domingo–La Concordia–Puerto Nuevo–Pedernales road still has limited access between 12:00 and 17:00. In Cotopaxi province, the road to Guangomalag is partially accessible, as are roads north, south, and west of the capital Cotopaxi. […]

Road Damage in Manabí

The province of Manabí was one of the most heavily destructed regions affected by the April 16 earthquake in Ecuador. Many roads and bridges have been significantly damaged, making travel in and out of Manabí congested and in some instances, dangerous. Earthquake induced landslides have made travel to the hard-hit coast difficult. One such road connecting El Carmen and Pedernales was obstructed by an […]