By EERI Reconnaissance Team.
March 12, 2011. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
Today was the first full day for most of the team in Christchurch. Most of us were involved in level 2 inspection and tagging of buildings that had been previously rapidly inspected and tagged.
The goal is to begin opening downtown sections of the Christchurch Business District (CBD) and to give the government a clear idea of the status of all the buildings. I was teamed with Fred Turner, Roberto Leon and Bob Gray who was our New Zealand CPEng. We also had two urban search and rescue personnel, Chris and Becky. We were able to inspect about 10 buildings and saw a lot of damage and got many good pictures. We ended up inspecting several motorcycle dealerships as they were all in close proximity. Based on a small data set it appears that Harley Davidson and Triumph motorcycles are more earthquake resistant than Suzuki and Honda. This observation is based on the number of tipped over motorcycles in the Suzuki and Honda dealerships and the fact that most of the other two brands remained standing. Another interesting part of our observation was that almost all of the buildings in the area we inspected experience liquefaction which left a significant covering of fine sands over the floors of the various buildings. The damage was typically only to the floor covering and slabs were damaged. The liquefaction did not cause sufficient settlement to effect the structural elements. All in all it was a busy day where we were able to help the government by inspecting and tagging buildings that needed our skills. In the process we were able to obtain significant data that will serve to help us learn what there is to learn from this event.
