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Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings have repeatedly been shown to perform poorly in large magnitude earthquakes, with both New Zealand and Australia having a history of past earthquakes that have resulted in fatalities due to collapsed URM buildings. A comparison is presented here of the URM building stock and the seismic vulnerability of Christchurch and Adelaide in order to demonstrate the relevance to Australian cities of observations in Christchurch resulting from the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake swarm. It is shown that the materials, architecture and hence earthquake strength of URM buildings in both countries is comparable and that Adelaide and other cities of Australia have seismic vulnerability sufficient to cause major damage to their URM buildings should a design level earthquake occur. Such an earthquake is expected to cause major building damage, and fatalities should be expected.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The sun shines on a New Zealand flag. The flag is held by a member of the public at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. More than 40,000 people attended the memorial service in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The sun shining on a New Zealand flag. The flag is being held by a member of the public at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. More than 40,000 people attended the memorial service in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A member of the Salvation Army and Reverend Victoria Matthews speaking at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. A sign language interpreter stands to the right. The service was held in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Student Army leader Sam Johnston and Patsy Te Are at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. A sign language interpreter stands to the right. The service was held in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The connections between walls of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings and flexible timber diaphragms are critical building components that must perform adequately before desirable earthquake response of URM buildings may be achieved. Field observations made during the initial reconnaissance and the subsequent damage surveys of clay brick URM buildings following the 2010/2011 Canterbury, New Zealand, earthquakes revealed numerous cases where anchor connections joining masonry walls or parapets with roof or floor diaphragms appeared to have failed prematurely. These observations were more frequent for adhesive anchor connections than for through-bolt connections (i.e., anchorages having plates on the exterior facade of the masonry walls). Subsequently, an in-field test program was undertaken in an attempt to evaluate the performance of adhesive anchor connections between unreinforced clay brick URM walls and roof or floor diaphragm. The study consisted of a total of almost 400 anchor tests conducted in eleven existing URM buildings located in Christchurch, Whanganui and Auckland. Specific objectives of the study included the identification of failure modes of adhesive anchors in existing URM walls and the influence of the following variables on anchor load-displacement response: adhesive type, strength of the masonry materials (brick and mortar), anchor embedment depth, anchor rod diameter, overburden level, anchor rod type, quality of installation, and the use of metal mesh sleeves. In addition, the comparative performance of bent anchors (installed at an angle of minimum 22.5° to the perpendicular projection from the wall surface) and anchors positioned horizontally was investigated. Observations on the performance of wall-to-diaphragm connections in the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a summary of the performed experimental program and test results, and a proposed pull-out capacity relationship for adhesive anchors installed into multi-leaf clay brick masonry are presented herein. AM - Accepted Manuscript

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Prime Minister John Key speaking at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, can be seen in the background. The service was held in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Student Army leader Sam Johnston and Patsy Te Are speaking at the Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service. A sign language interpreter stands to the right. The service was held in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.