Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Unit: SA 3
Institution:
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CATALONIA,
SPAIN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
1.1. Definition of the geographical region
1.2. Source mechanisms of typical earthquakes
2. Past Earthquakes
2.1. Acceleration history
3. Earthquake of Maule, 2010
3.1. Seismic intensity map
3.2. Economic loss
3.3. Deaths and injuries
3.4. A study-case: Alto Rio Building
3.4.1. Description of Buildings
3.4.2. The Fact
3.4.3. Structural Problem
3.4.4. Problems with the Soil
3.5. Soil characteristics of the region
3.6. Photos showing damage of buildings and civil infrastructure.
4. seismic building codes of chile
References
1. INTRODUCTION
The paper briefly describes the seismic hazard of Chile, focusing on its seismic history along
the last four centuries. Then, a specific earthquake is taken as study-case and deeply
analysed. It is known that the largest earthquake ever recorded in Chile occurred on May 22
of 1960, in the region of Araucana, where the catastrophic event had an intensity of 9,5
Richter. However, in order to collect a greater number of data about the damage, the deaths
and the injuries, and the economic loss, this study will deal with the recent earthquake of
Maule. This seismic event occurred off the cost of Central Chile on February 27 of 2010, at
03:34 am local time, having a magnitude of 8,8 on the moment magnitude scale.
Chile mainland belongs to the Pacific Ring of Fire, also known as ROF, (Figure 1), which is a
horseshoe of 40 000 km around the Pacific Ocean, involving the most seismically active
regions of world. In particular, the eastern section of the Ring is the result of the movements
and collision of Nazca and American tectonic plates. [1]
2. PAST EARTHQUAKES
In Chile since 1552 there is a registry of 66 earthquakes above 6.5 in Ritcher Scale and in
this count there has been 18 earthquakes above Mw 8.0 (for the details you can consult
Table 1. The red spots in Figure 3 correspond to earthquakes below 8,0 and blue spots
correspond to earthquakes above 8,0. Chile is actually divided in in 3 zones (North, Centre
and South) and 15 administrative Regions which we will to classify and locate the
earthquakes and acceleration history.
In Chile the National Red of Accelerometers (RENADIC) has instruments on free field
and on structures and has as an objective to establish the characteristics of seismic
movements in Chilean territory.
The data shown in Table 2 were processed using an automatic prosecution in
appropriate software. The consists basically in the correction of the base line of the
registry and the filter of high and low frequencies with a filter of 0.15-0.25 to 23.0-25.0 Hz.
This condition of filter may not be adequate for some specific studies. The integration on
high velocity and displacement is given only for registries that present a maximum
acceleration higher than 0.10g. The spectrum of answer of acceleration is presented for
all the registries for damping reasons of 0.00, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20. The largest
acceleration was of 916 cm/sg2 (0.935g) registered in the North-South Component in the
Angol Station [3]
It is important to notice that the registries are of non-corrected acceleration. The
accelerometers QDR only registers 100 continuous seconds (For this reason fail at the
end of the registry). The Directions NS (North-South), EW (East-West) are horizontal but
approximate. V correspond the the vertical.
The 27th of February, 2010 there was an earthquake of Magnitude 8,3 MW according to the
Seismological Service of Chile and of 8,8 according to the Geological Service of US. The
epicenter was located in the coast in front of the localities of Curanipe and Cobquecura (VII
Region) and at a depth of 47,7 km under earth crust. The earthquake has a length of 2
minutes and 45 seconds. The most affected area is in the Central-South Zone of Chile
affecting regions between V and XV. The damages and principal victims are mainly focused
in the coastal zone from regions V to IX. Un foco superficial, vara en profundidad entre 0 y
70 km; uno intermedio entre 70 y 300 km; y uno profundo mayor a 300 km.
The following Table 3 can be observed the values recorded divulge by the Government of
Chile (Emergency and Reconciliation) in May 2010.
After the catastrophic earthquake followed by a tsunami the National Emergency Office
(Onemi) reported the total number of deaths was 723 victims across the country. In the list
published by Onemi, there are 19 missing people and more than 500 injured in the different
affected regions of the country. The list also separates by region the total number of
deceased and disappeared. In the region of Maule, the most affected by the catastrophe, the
numbers reached 544 deaths and 4 missing people. In the Region of Bo Bo there were 64
deaths. In the other regions: Valparaso 16 deceased and 8 disappeared; In the
Metroplolitana Region were 38 deaths and 5 disappeared; In the Region of Libertador
Bernardo O'Higgins were 48 deaths and 2 disappeared and in La Araucana there were 13
deaths.
One of the major shocking event that took place in the 2010 earthquake in Chile, occurred in
the city of Concepcon. Where, a newly built edifice came to collapse after the earthquake. It
was the only building to collapse completely (Figure 5 and figure 6).
The building Alto Ro was a structure of 15 floors, with a height of 38 meters and was built in
2009. In its long axis measured 40 meters and in its short axis 12 meters wide. The typical
floor-to-floor height was 2,52 meters and the first level was 3,06 meters. It had two
basements for parking, each with a height of 2.52 meters [4].
Alto Ro was one of the buildings that collapsed due to the earthquake that affected the
central and southern zones of Chile on February 27 of 2010. Due to the time of the
earthquake, 3:34 am local time, many of its residents were trapped in interior of the structure,
resulting in about seventy wounded but rescued alive and eight casualties.
The structural problem that occurred was that the failure began on the first floor in the
meeting between walls and pillars. As a consequence of this factor occurs an instantaneous
and violent transfer of the loads to the heads of the continuous head heads. This causes the
crushing of the concrete and the effect is propagated.
At the root of the earthquake, in the longitudinal direction, the walls are misaligned producing
a scissor effect. In the compression area, the walls and pillars are embedded in the upper
floors. They disconnect from its base and the building falls.
Before reaching its final position, the structure impacts against the perimeter wall of the
parking lots, in the level of floor nine and split in two.
The upper floors are broken in the ground and embedded in the first subterranean. The lower
floors undem even more, bequeathing to the second subterraneous. The phenomenon can
observe the in the Figure 7 below.
The subsoil in the "Zero Zone", the building base, was classified, as soft or sandy soil (type
III). But the structural calculation made by the engineer Ortigosa de Pablo classifies it as firm
ground (type II).
However, there was a report previously made (in June 2006, by the engineer Calvo
DOttone) that indicated that the company was opting for a risky situation by adopting the
wrong type of soil. By adopting the wrong type of soil the company can execute a work with
lower standard and a lower technical requirement.
The error, according to IDIEM, is that Ortigosa de Pablo based the classification of soils in an
essay on ground resistance, which was what the standard demanded but did not make a
second report on the speed of propagation of cutting waves.
The city of Concepcin is located between the coastal plains and the Cordillera de la Costa,
in a tectonic pit on which the Biobo River. Among the cliffs are the coastal plains where the
bays of Concepcin and San Vicente are located and are located in the communes of
Talcahuano and Hualpn respectively.
In the Figure 7, it is possible to observe the respectively the types of soils existing in the
region in study.
The phenomenon of liquefaction is manifested in the surface of the soil by the formation of
cracks, subsidence of land, differential settlements, water appearance and sand volcanoes.
The zone here expressed in red of the map colour represents lands highly susceptible to
liquefaction. They correspond to soils formed by unconsolidated sediments of low
compaction and saturated of water.
In general, this zone presents great thicknesses of sediments prone to be liquefied, reason
why the magnitude of the liquefaction is still greater.
All these soils have a very high susceptibility to liquefy against future earthquakes. The city
of Talcahuano, presents a high percentage of liquefiable soils, on which the city has been
built. Earthquake possibly produced the liquefaction in many soils, however, the subsequent
tsunami eliminated the evidence of this phenomenon.
The zone expressed in the yellow colour in the map represents lands of average
susceptibility to liquefaction. They correspond to natural soils composed of unconsolidated
sediments, from low to medium compaction. In the city of Concepcion the yellow zone is the
most densely populated, where due to the earthquake damage occurred in lots of homes. In
2010 earthquake registered 2,733 units (4%) destroyed, 3,575 (5%) with severe damages,
and another 30 thousand 290 (38%) have moderate damages.
And, finally, in the white colour zone in the map represents low susceptibility areas to
experience liquefaction. It is corresponding to soils of fluvial origin. These zones are located
in the center of Concepcin, and on the eastern edge of the Tumbes peninsula.
Figure 17 Detail of failure in underground parking, Building Sol Oriente de Macul, RM region
In Chile, the first earthquake that questioned the fact of having seismic norms was the
earthquake of Talca (1928) which generated the General Law and Ordinance of
Constructions and Urbanization that took legal force in the year 1931. This ordinance lasts
until our days, and in its beginnings was extremely useful whose utility has been
demonstrated in the excellent behavior that have had the constructions based on its
dispositions. [3] [4] [5]
The first Chilean seismic standard was finally approved in 1972, NCh433 Of.72, and the first
design standards in reinforced concrete were approved in the years 1957 and 1961,
NCh429.EOf1957 Reinforced Concrete - Part 1 and NCh430.EOf1961 Reinforced Concrete -
Part 2. The standard NCh433 already presented a modern conception of the seismic
analysis where it contemplated as variables for its calculations a static or dynamic analysis,
Erasmus Mundus Programme
ADVANCED MASTERS IN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF MONUMENTS AND HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS 21
SEISMICITY AND SEISMIC HAZARD
the effect of the soil, the structural forms and the importance of the use of the structures.
However, the NCh430 standards did not present a modern aspect since their design was
based on the German standard DIN 1045. This meant that after the earthquake of 1985 in
Valparaiso, it became necessary to study both standards, which resulted in the New seismic
standard NCh433 Of.96, replacing the standard NCh433 Of.72, and that in turn adopted the
code ACI318 for the design of reinforced concrete structures, leaving the NCh430 standards
obsolete. The new standard NCh433 Of.96 added to the criteria of seismic analysis of the
norm NCh433 Of.72, among other things, the division of the national territory into three
sections according to their degree of seismicity: Coast-Center-Cordillera. In 2009, after
several years of study, the new Chilean seismic norm NCh433.Of96 was officially modified in
2009. The changes introduced by this standard are minimal. It maintains the design
spectrum, preserves seismic zone classification and soil type, among other things. Perhaps
the biggest change is that structuring types are added in order to add further definitions of R
and R0 response modification factors. However this rule goes unnoticed due to the
earthquake that occurred in our country on February 27, 2010. After 27F the seismic norm is
again studied, however the results would not be before two years. Due to the above and to
the results that could be observed in the different buildings, an emergency norm is
established, conformed by articles that vary the key points of the seismic analysis. Thus was
created the decrete N 117, which was approved in November 2010. The main changes of
this decree are as follows:
A new soil test is defined, which consists in evaluating the rigidity of the soils for low
deformations for all strata of soils in the first 30 meters of land.
The design spectrum is modified totally, mainly for the more flexible structures (T>
0.8sec).
The elastic spectrum of displacements is defined, in order to contribute to the
development of the design of reinforced concrete walls (NCh430) based on the
demand for displacement of ceilings.
Finally, in November 2011, Decree No. 61 was approved, which repealed Decree No. 117.
This last decree, next to the NCh433.Of96 Modified in 2009, conform the current Chilean
seismic norm for buildings. The main changes of this decree are the following:
A new soil type is created between soils II and III, now defined as B and D respectively. This
is to reduce the difference between the designs based on type II or type III soils, which
sometimes present up to 50% difference in the reinforcement of a structure.
The spectrum of decree No. 117 is removed and returned to the original spectrum of the
NCh433.Of96. This conclusion is taken from the results obtained from 27F, where most of
the buildings that suffered major damages were victims of the classification of the soils
contained in the rules prior to the earthquake. However, the spectrum of the 96 standard is
calibrated by an "s" factor, a factor that depends on the type of soils and varies from 0.9 for
Type A and 1.3 soils for Type E soils. The displacement spectrum is calibrated by a Cd *
amplification factor. The equations obtained for this factor Cd * are the result of an analytical
adjustment of the values of the elastic spectrum of displacements obtained with the records
of the earthquake of February 27, 2010.
REFERENCES
[1] P. S. R. R. Boroschek, Registros del Terremoto del Maule Mw= 8.8, Red Nacional de Acelerografos de
Chile, Santiago de Chile, 2010.
[2] J. Elizondo, Evaluacin de edificios daados por el sismo en Chile, Ingenieria Estructural, Colegio de los
Ingenieros de Costa Rica, pp. 125-127, 2011.
[3] R. R. S. Madariaga, Sismogenesis, Proceso de Ruptura y Replicas del Mega Terremoto del Maule 2010, in
Terremoto en Chile, Santiago, Universidad de Chile, 2012, pp. 1-30.
[4] E. J. F. G. Alarcon, El terremoto de magnitud 8,8 de Maule (Chile) Evaluacin sismolgica y observaciones
del estudio de campo, Trbol, pp. 5-17, 2010.
[8] Istituto Nacional de Normalizacin, NCh 433.Of1996 modificada en el 2009, Santiago de Chile: Istituto