An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 20 February 2013 entitled, "Today...".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 14 August 2011 entitled, "Sometimes you just need to sew a bunch of squares together....".
Research following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes investigated the minimum vertical reinforcement required in RC walls to generate well distributed cracking in the plastic hinge region. However, the influence of the loading sequence and rate has not been fully addressed. The new minimum vertical reinforcement limits in NZS 3101:2006 (Amendment 3) include consideration of the material strengths under dynamic load rates, but these provisions have not been validated at a member or system level. A series of tests were conducted on RC prisms to investigate the effect of loading rate and sequence on the local behaviour of RC members. Fifteen axially loaded RC prisms with the designs representing the end region of RC walls were tested under various loading rates to cover the range of pseudo-static and earthquake loading scenarios. These tests will provide substantial data for understanding the local behaviour of RC members, including hysteretic load-deformation behaviour, crack patterns, failure mode, steel strain, strain rate and ductility. Recommendations will be made regarding the effect of loading rate and reinforcement content on the cracking behaviour and ductility of RC members.
Developing a holistic understanding of social, cultural, and economic impacts of disasters can help in building disaster risk knowledge for policy making and planning. Many methods can help in developing an understanding of the impacts of a disaster, including interviews and surveys with people who have experienced disaster, which may be invasive at times and create stress for the participants to relive their experiences. In the past decade, social media, blog posts, video blogs (i.e. “vlogs”), and crowdsourcing mechanisms such as Humanitarian OpenStreetMap and Ushahidi, have become prominent platforms for people to share their experiences and impacts of an event from the ground. These platforms allow for the discovery of a range of impact information, from physical impacts, to social, cultural, and psychological impacts. It can also reveal interesting behavioural information such as their decision to heed a warning or not, as people tend to share their experiences and their reactions online. This information can help researchers and authorities understand both the impacts as well as behavioural responses to hazards, which can then shape how early warning systems are designed and delivered. It can also help to identify gaps in desired behavioural responses. This poster presents a selection of cases identified from the literature and grey literature, such as the Haiti earthquake, the Christchurch earthquake, Hurricane Sandy, and Hurricane Harvey, where online platforms were widely used during and after a disaster to document impacts, experiences, and behavioural responses. A summary of key learnings and areas for future research is provided.
A story submitted by Donna to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Godfrey Nosa to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by johnson hoeta to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Phil Bell to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Jocelyn to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Josine Giacometti to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Philip Cockburn to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Tommaso to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Melody to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Margaret Jefferies to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Herman Meijburg to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Rachel Hall to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Richard Beauchamp to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Tracy to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Karena to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Olivia to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Madelaine Weiss to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Mia Brooke to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Danielle Mclellan to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by JAC to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Darren to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Rebecca to the QuakeStories website.