Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Learning From Earthquakes

GEER Reconnaissance Reports

Read the Reports: April 5, 2011: Geotechnical Quick Report on the Kanto Plain Region during the March 11, 2011, Off Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake, Japan (6.1 MB PDF) May 2, 2011: Preliminary Observations of Levee Performance and Damage following the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Offshore Earthquake, Japan (2.6 MB PDF) May 17, 2011: Preliminary Observations of the Effects […]

GEER Reconnaissance Video

See the GEER Advance Team Reconnaissance Video: GEER Team Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance

Geotechnical Observations from Sendai, Japan

June 3, 2011: After meeting our Japanese colleagues on Friday, June 3rd at the hotel, we took the train from Narita Hilton Hotel to Tokyo and then Sendai. In Sendai, we first visited the Tohoku Regional Development Bureau (MLIT). They described the existing emergency response protocols for earthquake and tsunami. We then headed to the Sendai-Tohbu […]

Observations from FHWA/UJNR/EERI Reconnaissance Team for Bridge Damage Investigation

US TeamW. Philip Yen, US side Chair of T/C G, Federal Highway AdministrationIan Buckle, Professor, University of Nevada, RenoDavid Frost, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, AtlantaLee Marsh, Senior Project Manager, Berger/ABAM Engineers, SeattleShideh Dashti, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, BoulderEric Monzon, Research Assistant, University of Nevada, Reno Japan TeamTetsuro Kuwabara, Japan side Chair of T/C […]

Tohoku, Japan, Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011: Lifeline Performance

Damage was extensive… coal, oil and gas-power plants, wastewater treatment plants, substations, water transmission and distribution pipelines, highways, penstocks, telecom, all had various forms of tsunami and shaking damage. Some mitigation measures worked well; others not so much. Rapid response was much improved as compared to Kobe 1995. A 60-page presentation is available for download, […]