Performance of Infrastructure During the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China

Abstract

The Ms 8.0 earthquake that struck the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on May 12, 2008 left 69,227 dead. another 17,923 listed as missing, and 374,643 injured. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in Wenchuan County, triggering a fault rupture length of about 300 km. Having reached an earthquake damage intensity of XI, many towns along the fault line were severely destroyed. As part of the devastating damage inflicted by the earthquake disaster, the infrastructure in the area was severely affected by the main event and its aftershocks. Based on the findings of a post-earthquake reconnaissance field mission carried out by the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (The Institution of Structural Engineers, UK) and by the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, and on research carried out upon completion of the field mission, the seismic performance of the infrastructure in the affected area is presented in this article. The work focuses on the description of infrastructure performance during and after the disaster, in particular of highway- and road-engineered structures, railway, airports, hydraulic engineering, waterworks, pipelines, electric facilities, communication systems, and broadcast facilities. The information and recommendations provided in this article will be useful for engineers who design or maintain infrastructure in similar earthquake risk regions.

Keywords:

• Wenchuan Earthquake
• Field Investigation
• Earthquake Damage
• Seismic Performance
• Infrastructure

Acknowledgments

The field investigation was organized by the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT, The Institution of Structural Engineers, UK) under the leadership of Matthew Free (Arup), and by the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA Unit) of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The authors acknowledge the Civil Engineering College of South West Jiaotong University at Chengdu, P. R. China, for hosting and providing the logistic support for the field mission; the assistance provided by Prof. Qiao Li (Dean), Prof. Lingkan Yao, Prof. Jianlin Ma, Prof. Wei Peng, and Prof. Ying Wang is gratefully appreciated. Special thanks are expressed to Prof. Junwu Dai (Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration), Prof. Kehai Wang (Research Institute of Highway, Chinese Ministry of Transport), and Mr. Hong Xu (Well Co., Tianjin, China) for sharing their photos, knowledge, and experience in the earthquake affected region. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Artur Pinto (ELSA, JRC, European Commission) for his valuable comments and suggestions.