Title: Structural Design Requirements for Tsunami Evacuation Buildings in Japan

Author(s): Yoshiaki Nakano

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 313

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 1-12

Keywords: Tsunami, design, evacuation building, structural requirement

DOI: 10.14359/51689683

Date: 3/1/2017

Abstract:
The Great East Japan Earthquake that struck northern Japan in March 2011 caused devastating tsunami damage, both to property and human life. To evacuate inland or to elevated ground is the primary action immediately to be taken in coastal areas after a felt earthquake. But there are plenty of communities where people simply cannot evacuate in time, and constructing tsunami evacuation buildings at strategic locations is therefore vital means to effectively mitigate human damage. After the 2011 catastrophic tsunami event, a joint team of the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (IIS UTokyo) and the Building Research Institute (BRI) extensively inspected tsunami damaged buildings and investigated their lateral strength, structural type, site condition, observed damage etc. In November 2011, The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism newly issued the Interim Guidelines on the Structural Design of Tsunami Evacuation Buildings considering new findings, improved knowledge, and various experiences learned through the repeated damage investigations (Guidelines 2011). This paper presents the outline of the structural requirements for tsunami evacuation buildings stipulated in the new Japanese Interim Guidelines 2011. Following the Guidelines 2011, the relationship between structural size, required lateral strength, and tsunami inundation depth is also studied and discussed herein.