2010 Haiti Earthquake:Recovery Effort and 

Earthquake Risk Management

H. Kit Miyamoto, S.E.Miyamoto International

Topics

• The 2010 Earthquake• MTPTC Damage Assessment Program• Damage Repair Strategies• Earthquake Risk Management and Long Term Improvements

Recorded Significant 

Earthquakes before 1960Last major 

earthquake near Port‐au‐Prince 

was in 1770

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MODIFIED MERCALLI INTENSITIESBased on intensities obtained by phone interviews, newscast interpretation and USGS/NEIC surveys. McCann & Mora, 2010

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AREAS AFFECTED BY LIQUEFACTION: Ground

cracks, lateral spread, sand blows, differential settlements

AREAS AFFECTED BY SLOPE FAILURES: Rock/falls, debris

flows, landslides

External geodynamic processes: Preliminary observations from satellite imagery and newscast interpretation

Earthquake Impacts to Haiti and People

Reasons for Disaster

• Poor Materials and Construction• No engineering building codes• No license• No quality control• No risk management• NO EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Post Earthquake Recovery

Damage Assessment Program

• A million people are living in camps and on streets.• Hurricane season is fast approaching.• Many buildings are safe but sit empty during the night.

• People need an official damage inspection program to tag building safety.

• ATC 20 technical protocol was customized for Haiti• Goal is to inspect 100,000 buildings in 57 days

Miyamoto ATC‐20 Methodology• Proven assessment program used in major US and Japan earthquakes

• 1989, M7.1 San Francisco, CA• 1994, M6.7 Los Angeles, CA• 1995, M7.1 Kobe, Japan

• Customized it for Haiti construction and enhanced by adding modules for demolition complexity and risk‐vulnerability.  Both key data sets for recovery and reconstruction efforts.

• Demolition will be required for a number of buildings. 

• Demolition efforts are divided into three categories:

– Easy:  Building is very small, simple or has completely collapsed.  Debris removal is easy and safe.

– Medium: Building has partial collapses and is 2‐3 stories tall.  Debris removal requires  engineering or construction knowledge for safety.

– Complex:  Building is very tall or complex, has partial collapses or intermediate collapsed floors. Debris removal requires engineering for safety.

DEMOLITION

DEMOLITION ‐ Easy

DEMOLITION ‐Medium

DEMOLITION ‐ Complex

Structural Basics • Walls and frames• Redundancy• Brittleness/ductility• Degradation of 

structural– Strength– Stiffness– Stability 

Vulnerability Characteristics• Soils and Slope• Plan irregularity

―Torsion―Re‐entrant Corners―Large openings

• Vertical irregularity―Soft story―Set backs―Hillside―Short Column―Pounding

UNSAFEDO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY

UNSAFEDO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY

UNSAFEDO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY

UNSAFEDO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY

UNSAFEDO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY

RESTRICTED USE

RESTRICTED USE

RESTRICTED USE

RESTRICTED USE

INSPECTEDLAWFUL OCCUPANCY PERMITTED

INSPECTEDLAWFUL OCCUPANCY PERMITTED

Damage Assessment Program• MI Earthquake Engineers trained over 200 selected National Engineers to conduct damage assessments and tagging.

• MI engineers provided deployment tactics and quality control.

• Coordination with Joint Task Force and IOM.• MTPTC tags the buildings

Earthquake Risk Management

Deficiencies

• Poor Materials and Construction• No engineering building codes• No license• No quality control• No risk management• NO EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Best Practices – California, Japan• Building codes with strong earthquake engineering requirements.

• All construction requires permit.• Projects includes plan review and construction inspection for quality control.

• Experience and testing requirements to get licenses for engineers, architects and contractors

Best PracticesUS Building Codes and Regulations

Building Dynamic Behavior

Shear deformation

Pendulum action

Groundmotion

Earthquake Forces and Structural Elements

Ground MotionA. B. “Earthquake Forces”

C. Shear walls Moment-Resistant frames Braced frames

Elastic vs. Inelastic DeformationInelastic Ductile Behavior

Deformed shapewith strong forceapplied

Final deformedshape after forceis removed

Deformed shape when a forceis applied

Springs backto original shape

Brittle Inelastic Behavior

Reinforced vs. Unreinforced Columns

Unreinforcedbrick piers

Ductile Reinforcedbrick piers

Strain, displ.

Stre

ss, f

orce

Strain, displ.S

tress

, for

ce

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ydisplacementforce

displacementforce

Non‐Ductile Concrete

Ductile Concrete

Unreinforced Masonry

Reinforced Masonry

Grout

Reinforcing bars

Wire ties

Seismic Resistant Building Design Philosophy

• Low level earthquakes produce elastic behavior

• Moderate level earthquakes may produce nonlinear behavior and some damage, primarily non‐structural

• High level earthquakes force nonlinear behavior and some damage, both non‐structural and structural

Reconstruction Factors• There has been no structural 

building code or adequate construction regulation system of permitting and inspection. 

• Haitians build their own homes based on common societal construction practices, using readily available materials.

We need to come up with indigenous and simple solutions that balances cost and earthquake safety.

Strategy for Repair• Technical Platform ‐ Repair methodology and options for 

typical Haiti construction systems.

• Communications and Public Outreach – teach techniques and methodologies to repair and strengthen houses.

• Training – masons and contractors on proper construction methodologies for improved seismic resistance.  E.g., confined concrete design and construction guides.

• Quality Assurance – Inspections by trained Haitian building inspectors.

Strategy for RepairSample Construction and Design Guides

Strategy for Repair – Sample Construction and Design Guides

Strategy for RepairSample Construction and Design Guides

YES

NO

NO

Δmax = 0.56 in. (14 mm) Δmax = 3.5 in. (89 mm)Δyield = 0.85 in. (22 mm)

Δmax = 0.85 in. (22 mm) Δmax = 4.8 in. (122 mm)

Δyield = 1.44 in. (37 mm)

Strategy for Repair

Communications and Public Outreach

• Radio, TV, newspaper advertising.

• Train the trainer classes.

• Trainers go to communities doing demonstrations on best practices – tools, materials, systems, methodologies

Long Term ImprovementsLong Term Quality Improvement Requires Better Engineering, Construction and Quality Assurance

• Education – classes and seminars on earthquake engineering

• Building Code – need to develop building codes for engineering and design.

• License – set up a licensing program for engineers, architects and contractors.

• Quality Assurance – set up permitting and construction inspection programs

Thank You