Post-Earthquake Assessment in Nepal

Laura Whitehurst, P.E., S.E.2015

Overview

• Background on earthquake, my involvement• Background on Nepali construction• Damage • Experiences doing assessments• Observations

Backgroundपषृ्ठभू�म

Background on Earthquake

• April 25• M7.8• Approx 50 miles NW of

Kathmandu (KTM)

• May 12• M7.3• Approx 50 miles NE of

Kathmandu (KTM)

• 4 other aftershocks >M6• Current combined death

toll: >8,900

Background on My Involvement

• Apr 25: Mainshock M7.8• May 12: Big aftershock M7.3• May 25: I respond to ASCE-SEI callout for INCLUDED

(NGO partner of earthquake response coalition)• May 25: INCLUDED responds enthusiastically and

preparations begin• Jun 3: I depart for Nepal• Jun 4-12: On the ground in Nepal• Jun 13: I arrive back stateside

Background on My Involvement

• INCLUDED was partnered with several local engineering companies, developers, NGOs (non-governmental organizations)

• Minergy• Co-Efficient Consultants• GoodWeave Foundation• Brihat Investments• UN Habitat

• All assessments were in the KTM valley

Background on My Involvement

• I stayed in KTM, at a hotel just outside the tourist district (Thamel)

• Weather was leading up to monsoons: HOT• No A/C in the hotel• Told to pack for camping if necessary (luckily not)

My room

Tent encampment Restaurant/

Courtyard

Background on Nepali Construction

Background on Nepali Construction• Adobe (mud brick +

mud mortar)• Performed abysmally in

earthquake• Common in rural areas

Background on Nepali Construction• Brick (clay fired brick +

cement mortar)• Performed pretty badly

in earthquake, but not quite as bad as adobe

• Common in urban areas

Background on Nepali Construction• Reinforced concrete (RC)

frame + brick infill walls• Performed surprisingly

well in earthquake, but still had some collapses

• Infill walls may have saved poorly detailed RC frames by dissipating energy

• Very common in urban areas

Nepali Construction Quality

Nepali Construction Quality

BRICKS, all the way down

Damage��त

Column Damage

Column Damage

Column Damage

Corner separation — masonry

Corner Separation — RC Frames

Masonry Out-of-Plane Failure

Masonry Out-of-Plane Failure

Masonry Out-of-Plane Failure

Masonry Out-of-Plane Failure

Building Out of Plumb

Building Out of Plumb

Building WAAAAAY Out of Plumb

Partial Collapse

Partial Collapse

Total Collapse

Total Collapse

Total Collapse

Infill Wall Cracking

Infill Wall Cracking

Stairs

Stairs

Stairs

Water Tanks

Geotechnical

Geotechnical

Historic Sites — KTM Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — KTM Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — KTM Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — KTM Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — KTM Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — Swayambhunath

Historic Sites — Swayambhunath

Historic Sites — Swayambhunath

Historic Sites — Swayambhunath

Historic Sites — Swayambhunath

Historic Sites — Bhaktapur Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — Bhaktapur Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — Bhaktapur Durbar Sq

Historic Sites — Dharahara Tower

Experiences During Assessmentनमस्त ेउिस्नक

Experiences During Assessment

• Mostly people were happy to see me

• Not a door-to-door assignment: had a list of people who had called for an engineer

• Schmidt hammer was really popular

• “Safe” vs “Undamaged”

• Total lack of documentation

• No one had forms • No one wanted my

notes/forms• Saw 3 tags in 8 days• Duplication of effort

• No authority, so could only make recommendations

Experiences During Assessment

Experiences During AssessmentMan holding a picture of his house when it was built.

The front columns of his house were buckled at the second story so I had to advise him to take the structure down to that level.

The caption at the bottom says, rather presciently, “Nothing is eternal, all must be declined.”

Experiences During Assessment

Many families welcomed me into their house and offered food (and wouldn’t take no for an answer).

HAMMER TIMEहथौडा समय

Schmidt Hammer time

Schmidt Hammer time

Schmidt Hammer time

Laura using the Schmidt hammer to test the strength of a damaged column on a house

Schmidt Hammer time

Laura teaching some younger engineers how to use the Schmidt hammer

Old-fashioned Hammer time

I think we need a bigger Hammer time

Forms?

We don’t need no stinkin’ forms!

Observations�टप्प�णयहरुको

Observations

• Building code is skeletal• No enforcement of the skeletal building code• No inspection, follow-up (common to add extra

stories)• Assembly of assessors was piecemeal• Historic sites are a huge problem• Terrible timing with monsoons starting 2 months

after quake

Observations

Park at City Zoo

RiverbankDurbar SquareNat’l Stadium

Observations

• There are still opportunities to go and help• Unskilled/Manual labor (building schools, clinics)• Skilled: Engineering support

• Design (new, retrofit)• Training Nepali engineers• Schematic/generic details and plan sets

Observations

• Nepal is open for business!• Heavily dependent on the tourism industry• Trekking circuits and other sites outside of KTM

undamaged

Good foodMomos

Shameless promotion of WPM

Good beer

Giant statue of Shiva

(approximately to scale)

Awesome flag

Questions…?प्रश्न…?Contact Laura

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