In early 2016, a strong earthquake struck southern Taiwan. The February 6th Mei-Nong earhtquake, with a magnitude Ml = 6.4, produced 117 deaths and over 500 injuries. The earthquake caused around &800 million USD direct loss, left over 900 families homeless, left several hundreds of buildings red tagged, and caused the collapse of at least 11 buildings (NCREE and NCKU, 2016 and TCP, 2016). This paper highlights the earthquake characteristcs and impacts observed by the Degenkolb Engineers’ reconnaissance team. Typical building construction and siesmic codes used in the earathquake-affected area and are discussed as they relate to common U.S. practice. Structural damage observed from the earthquake is also considered, including the performance of residential buildings, school buildings, district office buildings, and two hospitals. The paper further expancs on lessons leaarned from the earthquake reconnaissance, recommendations regarding the seismic evaluation of existing buildings, as well as some commentary on possible public policy. This paper was presented at the 2016 SEAOC Convention.
Lessons Learned from the 2016 Taiwan Mei-Nong Earthquake (2MB pdf, English) by D. Zapeda, G. Hagen
