Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Learning From Earthquakes

UNOSAT damage assessment: Carrefour, Haiti + Database (ESRI and KML format)

Link for map-downloads: https://unitar.org/unosat/haiti-earthquake-2010-remote-sensing-based-building-damage-assessment-data Damage assessment database including Carrefour and Port-au-Prince in ESRI Geodatabase format (9.3.1) and above damage points as  KML: http://www.unosat.org/unitar/downloads/PDNA_HTI_2010_BuildingDamageAssessment_UNOSAT-JRC-WB_v2_gdb.zip. If using database, please credit: “Damage assessment: UNITAR/UNOSAT”

Description of Colombage Construction

Figure 1 found on Facebook (and presumably taken by) Gwenn Goodale Mangine within 24 hours of the earthquake clearly shows a building with its upper story constructed of “colombage” (the French word for “half-timber” or known in Turkey as “hımış” and in Kashmir as “dhajji dewari”) construction. The lower floor appears to be unreinforced stone […]

Photos of buildings with heavy damage

                                               Fig. 1. 5-year-old construction collapsed at 1st-2nd floors. Light concrete frame with masonry infill.    Fig. 2. Partial collapse of unreinforced rubble stone retaining wall.   Fig. 3. Landslides on slopes around […]

Photos of buildings with minor damage

      Fig. 1. Broken window at top.   Fig .2. Minor damage to infill at lower right.   Fig. 3. Concrete collapse in foreground.                                                               […]

Photos taken in and round Port-au-Prince

                               Figure 1. Collapsed canopy at gas station. No anchorage at base of posts.   Figure 2. Lateral spreading at port.               Figure 3.Overview of collapsed pier and cranes at port. Several buildings also under […]

Photos taken in and around Leogane

                                                                           Fig. 1. Wood utility pole, broken at mid-height.   Fig. 2. Tank farm: tanks unanchored but no sign […]

EERI Team Leader Reginald DesRoches travels to Haiti for damage assessment

EERI Team Leader Reginald DesRoches travels to Haiti for damage assessment (CNN) — Reginald DesRoches is deploying to Haiti to tag key infrastructure buildings with red, yellow and green markers — designations on whether they’re still usable. DesRoches has years of experience as a civil engineering expert dealing with structures in the wake of earthquakes. […]

Geotechnical Engineering Reconnaissance of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake

The earthquake epicenter was located immediately west of the city of Port-au-Prince, and the damage induced by this event was extreme. It is estimated that over 200,000 people were killed during the earthquake, and several hundred thousand injured. A strike-slip Mw = 7 event that affects ground near the margins of a bay represents a […]