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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street. The tower on the right has crumbled, and the masonry has fallen to the pavement below. A car has been crushed by the fallen rubble. Windows in the tower behind are broken.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The city of Christchurch has experienced over 10,000 aftershocks since the 4th of September 2010 earthquake of which approximately 50 have been greater than magnitude 5. The damage caused to URM buildings in Christchurch over this sequence of earthquakes has been well documented. Due to the similarity in age and construction of URM buildings in Adelaide, South Australia and Christchurch (they are sister cities, of similar age and heritage), an investigation was conducted to learn lessons for Adelaide based on the Christchurch experience. To this end, the number of URM buildings in the central business districts of both cities, the extent of seismic strengthening that exists in both cities, and the relative earthquake hazards for both cities were considered. This paper will report on these findings and recommend strategies that the city of Adelaide could consider to significantly reduce the seismic risk posed by URM buildings in future earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building on Lichfield Street. Masonry from the top section of the building has broken away and spilled onto the footpath below. A red sticker has been placed on the door, indicating that the building is unsafe to enter. USAR codes have been spray-painted on the column and window to the right.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Cranmer Courts on the corner of Montreal and Kilmore Streets. Two chimneys have been removed from the building and placed on the footpath in front. Various pieces of fallen masonry can also be seen on the footpath. Wire fencing and road cones have been placed around the building as a cordon.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the badly-damaged Octagon Live Restaurant on the corner of Worcester and Manchester Streets. The masonry around the gable has crumbled, falling onto the footpath in front.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Cranmer Courts on the corner of Kilmore and Montreal Streets. The gable to the left has crumbled, and there is damage to the tip of the gable in the foreground. Wooden bracing has been placed on both walls to limit further damage from aftershocks.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The southern side of the Christ Church Cathedral with boarded up windows and damage to the roof above both of the transepts. Damaged masonry has been piled on the ground in front and one of the spires has been removed and braced with steel in the foreground.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Canterbury Provincial Chambers Buildings on Durham Street. Large sections of the masonry have collapsed, spilling onto the road. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon. Scaffolding erected up the side of the building after the 4 September 2010 earthquake has collapsed. In the distance, a crane is parked on the street.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Following the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake a comprehensive damage survey of the unreinforced masonry (URM) building stock of Christchurch city, New Zealand was undertaken. Because of the large number of aftershocks associated with both the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and the earlier 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake, and the close proximity of their epicentres to Christchurch city, this earthquake sequence presented a unique opportunity to assess the performance of URM buildings and the various strengthening methods used in New Zealand to increase the performance of these buildings in earthquakes. Because of the extent of data that was collected, a decision was made to initially focus exclusively on the earthquake performance of URM buildings located in the central business district (CBD) of Christchurch city. The main objectives of the data collection exercise were to document building characteristics and any seismic strengthening methods encountered, and correlate these attributes with observed earthquake damage. In total 370 URM buildings in the CBD were surveyed. Of the surveyed buildings, 62% of all URM buildings had received some form of earthquake strengthening and there was clear evidence that installed earthquake strengthening techniques in general had led to reduced damage levels. The procedure used to collect and process information associated with earthquake damage, general analysis and interpretation of the available survey data for the 370 URM buildings, the performance of earthquake strengthening techniques, and the influence of earthquake strengthening levels on observed damage are reported within. http://15ibmac.com/home/

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 the case of adhesive anchor connections than for the case of through-bolt connections (i.e. anchorages having plates on the exterior façade 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 foil sleeve. In addition, the comparative performance of bent anchors (installed at an angle of minimum 22.5o 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 and a snapshot of the performed experimental program and the test results are presented herein. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/21050