Observations from the EERI Team

3/10

Arrival at Santiago Airport (SCL). Airport functionality returning. Approximately 1.5 hours to clear customs. Arranged taxi inside terminal. 15,000 pesos (about $30US). Half hour taxi ride to Hotel Neruda. A few signs of earthquake, including settled overpass approaches along route.

Meeting at U. Catolica to initiate discussions with Professors Rafael Riddell, Ernesto Cruz, Juan Carlos de la Llera, and Matias Hube. Make initial plans for reconnaissance. Review slides with Professors Riddell and Hube.

3/11

Meeting with Professors Riddell, de la Llera, Hube, and Carl Luders at SIRVE. Further discussion and planning.

Afternoon meeting at U. Chile with Professors Rodolfo Saragoni and Mauricio Sarrazin, and Luis Nario Matus (past president Camara Chilena de la Construccion) to discuss activities.

Return to SIRVE for further discussions.

Visit high rise building, Santiago. Approximately 26 story concrete wall building. Note crushed wall boundaries to left and right of the entry. Additional photos show boundaries in closer detail. Figure 5 shows view inside the wall at the right of the entry. This column landed on enlarged column in subterranean parking area (wall discontinued to allow car passage). Wall to left of entry was not discontinuous in the subterranean level. However, both walls were set back in the first story (wall length longer in upper stories), which may explain why it crushed at the first story.

see Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 below

Second high rise building. Slender wall building, permanent roof offset of 22 cm toward left of view in Figure 6. Long corridor wall down longitudinal axis of basement (parking levels), with perpendicular stems all to one side of the corridor wall. All stem walls crushed. Major shoring activity under way in preparation for eventual retrofit of building. Other side of building shows signs of being in tension.

see Figure 6, Figure 7 below

 

 

Figure 1. 33 Los Cerezos	Figure 2. 33 Los Cerezos
Figure 3. 33 Los Cerezos	Figure 4. 33 Los Cerezos
Figure 5.	Figure 6. Emerald Building (2931 Irarrazaral ).

Figure 7.  Emerald Building (2931 Irarrazaral )