Introduction to natural and man-made disasters and their effects on buildings

1. Introduction 1 Definition 1 Disasters and buildings 4 What is a disaster? 6 Disaster impact 8 Disaster characteristics 9 Disaster response 10 Preparedness 10 Mitigation 11 Management 11 Loss assessment 12 Strategy trends 15 Human and infrastructure vulnerability 16 Environmental degradation 16 Growing poverty in developing countries 17 Part I Natural Disasters 19 2. Earthquakes 21 What happens during an earthquake 21 Tectonic plates 22 Earthquake characteristics 23 Earthquake measurement 24 Geographic and historic evolution: statistics 26 Earthquake prediction 26 Effect of earthquakes 27 Effect of earthquakes and seismic design principles 28 Direct effects 29 Indirect or consequential effects 35 Seismic design principles 36 Rehabilitation of old structures 40 New ideas, research, and recent developments for seismic-resistant construction 42 Contents Case study: Vrancea, Romania 44 General 44 The effect of 4 March 1977 earthquake on structures 47 The effect of 4 March 1977 earthquake on Romanian historic buildings 52 Romanian consolidation techniques, anti-seismic design, and legislation 53 Disaster mitigation 58 3. Volcanoes 59 What are volcanoes and how they erupt 59 Volcano types 60 Statistics 61 Effects of volcanic eruptions 61 4. Flooding 63 How does flooding occur 63 Causes and effects of flooding 63 Causes of flooding 63 Effects of floods 64 Elements of design 66 Individual properties 66 General approach 67 Case study – Thames barrier 67 Case study – The Loire river, France 70 Case study – Reignac sur Indre 72 5. Weather conditions 77 Storm 77 What is a storm and how it occurs 77 Wind effects on buildings 79 Case study – The Storms of 1987 and 2000 in the UK 81 Hurricane and tornado 86 What is a hurricane and how it occurs 86 Case study – Hurricane Andrew 89 What is a tornado 91 Lightning 92 What is lightning and how it occurs 92 Effects of lightning on buildings 94 Case study – Reconstruction of church spire St Quentin-sur-Indrois, France 95 Extreme temperatures 102 Temperature records – extreme cold 102 Temperature records – extreme heat 105 General design features 107 Effect of extreme temperatures on buildings 110 vi Contents Case study – Anchorage Performing Arts Center roof repair 113 New materials 118 Mass movement 120 What is mass movement and how it occurs 120 Types of mass movement and slope failure 121 Case study – The Dalles Middle School 122 Case study – Holbeck Hotel 123 Part 2 Man-made Disasters 129 6. Conflict 131 Types of conflict 131 Conflict issues types 131 Methods of resolving conflict issues 131 Effect of conflict and terrorist attack on buildings 134 Types of damage 134 Design considerations 136 Case studies 139 Northern Ireland 139 Central University Library, Bucharest, Romania 141 World Trade Centre collapse 147 7. Fire 151 How does fire occur 151 Types fire 152 Fire disasters affecting wildland and forests 152 Fire disasters affecting humans 153 Monitoring and prevention strategy 154 Case study – Windsor Castle 156 8. Disasters resulting from human activities 159 Classification and impact 159 Technological advances 159 Excessive exploitation of natural resources and inappropriate land development and building 159 Contamination of the food chain and environment 160 Impact 160 Technological production 161 Manufacture and use of harmful products 161 Harmful by-products and/or processes 163 Case study – Chernobyl, Ukraine 164 Pollution 168 Excessive exploitation of natural resources and inappropriate land development 171 Inappropriate land development and building 172 Contamination of the food chain and environment 173 Case study – The cyanide spill at Baia Mare, Romania 173 Contents vii 9. Historic buildings destruction 183 General issues 184 Vulnerability 184 Specific type of damage 184 Vandalism and neglect 186 Case study – Eltham Orangery 186 Development demolition 193 Case study – ‘THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE’, Bucharest, Romania 193 Historic buildings protection in disaster conditions 196 Preparedness 196 Mitigation 197 Management 197 Appendices 199 Emergency action checklist and fact sheets 201 Earthquake emergency checklist 201 Flood emergency checklist 203 Before 203 During a flood watch 204 During a flood 204 During an evacuation 204 After 204 Inspecting utilities in a damaged home 205 Fact sheet: hurricanes and tornadoes 206 Before 206 During a hurricane watch 207 During a hurricane warning 207 After 208 During 209 After 209 Inspecting utilities in a damaged home 210 Mitigation 210 Fact sheet: extreme heat 211 Before 211 During 211 During a drought 212 Heat disorders 212 Fact sheet: landslides and mudflows 214 Before 214 During 215 After 215 Mitigation 215 Fact sheet: terrorism 216 Before 216 During 217 After 217 viii Contents Contents ix Wildfire emergency checklist 219 Nuclear accident mitigation 221 Contributors 223 Prof. Ing. Alexandru Cismigiu 223 Bertrand Penneron 224 Miro Group 224 Jonathan P. Kumin, AIA 224 Christine Theodoropoulos, Anne Deutsch, Josh Glavin, and Boora Architects, Inc. 225 Rena Pitsilli-Graham, Freeman Historic Properties, Caroe & Partners 226 Information sources 227 Disaster websites 227 Earthquake websites and organizations 229 Weather information and organizations websites 229 Fire monitoring and information websites 229