Navigating the Challenge of Sequential Hazards: Evolving Building Design for Earthquakes and Tsunami

Speech Title:

Navigating the Challenge of Sequential Hazards: Evolving Building Design for Earthquakes and Tsunami.

Abstract  

On the 26th December 2004, the Sunda Trench ruptured, triggering a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and massive ground shaking in Indonesia. This also set off a tsunami that claimed over 225,000 lives across 12 countries bordering the Indian Ocean; The Indian Ocean Tsunami (IOT). Just a few years later, Chile and Japan experienced devastating damage to their coastlines from the combined effects of earthquake shaking and tsunami flooding, caused by the 2010 M8.8 Maule Earthquake and the 2011 M9.1 Tohoku Earthquake, respectively. In these regions, even with stringent seismic building codes, their effectiveness in addressing the sequential hazards was questioned.

In this presentation, we will explore how our understanding of tsunami inundation and its interaction with buildings has evolved over the 20 years since the IOT. We will examine the current ability to design and assess buildings for tsunami risks, and identify the limitations involved. We will also discuss how seismic design for buildings can sometimes conflict with measures for tsunami resistance. Finally, we will consider what design strategies for buildings facing both earthquakes and tsunamis might look like.

Biographies

Tiziana Rossetto is the Professor of Earthquake Engineering at University College London (UCL) in the UK, elected fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, founding director of EPICentre. Tiziana’s research focuses on evaluating building and infrastructure resilience to natural hazards.