Impact between structures of bridge sections can play a major, unexpected role in seismic structural damage. Linear and non-linear models are developed to analyze structural impact and response of two single-degree-of-freedom structures, representing adjacent ...

On 4 September 2010, a surface rupturing earthquake (Mw 7.1) struck the Canterbury Plains region in New Zealand's South Island. The Canterbury Plains is a region of relatively low seismicity, and the structure that ruptured was a previously unmapped fault. ...

In 2004, the GeoNet project operated by GNS Science implemented an internet-based questionnaire. Its aim was to provide an automatic intensity assignment in New Zealand’s Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity scale based on answers to a set of standardized questions. ...

In this paper, a loss estimation evaluation for Christchurch CBD, with focus on reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, is conducted with the main aim to improve the reliability of current procedures to support the aforementioned decision-making process. Comparisons ...

This study investigates the formation process of rainfall-induced landslide for slopes composed of loose soil in the Wenchuan earthquake region. Experimental investigations have been performed on the landslide’s formation and the variation of the controlling ...

This paper provides an overview of the salient aspects of the dense array of ground motions observed in the 4 September 2010 Darfield and 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Particular attention is given to inferred physical reasons for the observed ...

This paper compares the historical and current approaches to building design in New Zealand with the performance based design approaches currently used in the United States under the framework of ASCE 41. Examples of building performance during the recent ...

This paper presents a study of the dynamic analysis of a building before and after devastating earthquakes using system identification. The eight storey reinforced concrete building is instrumented with 10 accelerometers. The time domain N4SID system identification ...

Aftershocks following an earthquake can be damaging to the built environment, as observed in New Zealand during 2010 and 2011. In this paper, the aftershock sequence is discussed and a soil-foundation-structure numerical model is introduced. The numerical ...

A devastating earthquake hit the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan on 11 March 2011, causing extensive damage to life and property as a result of large-scale tsunami and damage to nuclear power plants. Many slope failures occurred in hilly areas, such as in ...