Contents

国総研ニューズレター■ Estimating distribution of the earthquake motion of the Great East JapanEarthquake■ Initiatives for Rapid Restoration of Sewage System Facilities- Proclamation by the Sewage System Earthquake/Tsunami Countermeasure Technology Study Committee ■ Characteristics of highway bridge damage due to the Great East
Japan Earthquake■ Earthquake and tsunami-induced damage to buildings
and the later review of related technical standards■ Damage to port facilities■ Damage to Sendai Airport Facilities

N I L I M N e w s L et t e rNo.37

Summer 2011
Special Edition: The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake (Great East Japan Earthquake)
Estimating distribution of the earthquake
motion of the Great East Japan Earthquake
Research Center for Disaster Risk Management,
Earthquake Disaster Prevention Division

Distributions of the earthquake motion during the Great East Japan
Earthquake are estimated in order to clarify the relationship between
damage to facilities and the earthquake motion which struck thesefacilities.
The Great East Japan Earthquake had moment magnitude (Mw)of 9.0, which is the highest ever observed in Japan and triggered
powerful earthquake motion throughout East Japan, including
seismic intensity of 7 in Kurihara City in Miyagi Prefecture, high 6in Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Tochigi Prefectures, and low 6in Iwate, Gunma, Saitama, and Chiba, Prefectures, accompanied byextensive damage to infrastructure facilities.
In order to clarify the failure mechanisms of these damaged
facilities and establish the relationship between facility damage andthe earthquake motion to estimate facility damage, it is necessary
to clarify the earthquake motion at the locations of the facilities.
Therefore, the widespread and detailed distribution of earthquake
motion during the Great East Japan Earthquake, including that inregions without earthquake observation stations, were estimated.
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has released the EstimatedSeismic Intensity Distribution Map, which estimates JMA seismic
intensity for 1km meshes based on seismic intensity data observedin various regions by seismographs operated by JMA and local
governments. It has, however, been pointed out that it is difficult tofully estimate damage to various kinds of infrastructure facilities
with respective vibration properties based only on the distributionof JMA seismic intensity.
Hence, in addition to JMA seismic intensity, spectrum intensity(SI), which is considered to be highly correlated with earthquake
damage to infrastructure facilities, and peak ground acceleration arechosen as indices for estimation of earthquake motion distributions.
These indices were calculated based on the accelerogram
recorded at each earthquake observation station, and a planarinterpolation was performed using the amplification of groundmotion of subsurface ground for each 250m mesh. The results ofthe calculation are shown on the Estimated Earthquake Motion
Distribution Map.
The observed records from K-NET and KiK-net operated
by National Research Institute of Earth Science and Disaster
Prevention and from JMA seismic intensity observation stations
were used for the estimation along with those from Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) seismographnetwork.
The Earthquake Disaster Prevention Division is conducting
research on methods of evaluating similarity between twoearthquakes by comparing the estimated earthquake motion
distributions, and has been establishing a system for the estimationof earthquake motion distribution just after an earthquake has
occurred by using observation records of MLIT and relatedorganizations, and for quick and automatic selection of a pastearthquake that is considered similar to the one that just occurred.
When a large earthquake occurs, reports of past recent
earthquakes which caused disasters similar to that of thisearthquake are provided to concerned organizations as informationthat supports prompt crisis management.
The earthquake motion distribution map and values estimatedwill soon be available on the NILIM website along withaccelerogram records observed by the MLIT seismograph network.
Website of MLIT Seismograph Network
http://www.nilim.go.jp/japanese/database/nwdb/index.htm

LegendSI value: unit kine

Meteorological Agency observation
stations
K-NET, KiK-Net observation stations
MLITT observation stations

Estimated Earthquake Motion Distribution Map (SI values)1Initiatives for Rapid Restoration of Sewage
System Facilities- Proclamation by the Sewage System Earthquake/
Tsunami Countermeasure Technology Study Committee Water Quality Control Department, Wastewater System Division

On April 12, the Sewerage and Wastewater Management Department, Water and Disaster Management Bureau of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, cooperatively with the Japan
Sewage Works Association, established a committee of academic experts, the Sewage System Earthquake/Tsunami Countermeasure Technology Study Committee (Chairman: Professor Hamada Masanori of
Waseda University), to carry out appropriate emergency restoration ofsewage system facilities damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake,and complete final restoration to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster.

tsunami protection measures; a task predicted to take many years.
The earthquake’s second characteristic is that in the Kanto region
far from the epicenter, it triggered large-scale liquefaction, mainly on
reclaimed land, causing severe damage to pipelines. This includes
manholes and pipes forced up above ground level and liquefied soil filling
pipelines, obstructing the flow of sewage. Not only sewage systems,
but surrounding buildings, roads, water supply pipes and other buried
structures were seriously damaged by the liquefaction phenomenon, so it
is necessary to quickly establish restoration policies for the entire region
and efficiently carry out the restoration work.
The committee announced the Proclamation on the Technological Urgency of Sewage Treatment System Restoration on April 15, and a secondproclamation, the Proposal for the Staged Emergency Restoration, on June
14. On July 19, the committee held its third meeting, where it conducteda lively discussion of how to effectively conduct the final restoration. The
NILIM is, as the administrative organ of the committee, analyzing thedamage and carrying out a technical study of restoration measures, etc.
Based on these proclamations, initiatives to complete the final restorationin the disaster region are being accelerated, and are counted on to restore
the lives of the people of the region in the shortest possible time.
Reference URL: http://www.mlit.go.jp/crd/crd_sewerage_tk_000170-1.html

Approximately five months have passed since the unprecedented massive earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. Although
after-shocks are occurring with decreasing frequency, many sewage treatment plants have not recovered their former functions (16 sewage plants
as of July 25), and their operators are searching for restoration methods.
The first unique characteristic of this earthquake was the unforeseen
tsunami it generated, and the waythat the external force (wave force)of the tsunami, the inundation it
caused, and the floating debris it
carried inflicted catastrophic damage on sewage treatment facilities
along the coastline. Along withdamage to civil engineering structures, damage to electrical machinery and electric power equipment
was astonishing, and it is necessary
to not only aim for total recoveryof their functions, but to improve
View of Damage at the Minami Gamo Wastewater
Treatment Center (Sendai City)
their functions to prepare for future

Characteristics of highway bridge damage
due to the Great East Japan Earthquake
Road Department, Bridge and Structures Division

We have surveyed road bridges damaged by the Great East Japan
Earthquake. The following are its principal characteristics.

Second Meeting of the Committee

Damage caused by the tsunami which struck the Pacific coast of
the Tohoku and Kanto regions includes the washing away of bridges
erected in the region.
On road bridges at locations of nearby river levees severely damagedby ground liquefaction, cracking near attachments of bearings in bridge
abutments and level differences at bridge abutment attachments causedby nearby ground subsidence were confirmed by the survey. But, nodamage threatening bridge safety was found on the structural bodiesof the bridges. In addition, the survey focused on bridges where nearby
levees were severely damaged, but at this time, no sign of severe
deformation of any bridge has been confirmed. Reports and details
regarding the surveys will be regularly published at the Great East
Japan Earthquake page especially prepared on the NILIM web site

Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, theNILIM conducted surveys of damaged road bridges in cooperation withthe Public Works Research Institute.
NILIM surveyed more than 150 road bridges by the end of May 2011
in the prefectures of Chiba, Ibaraki, Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate.
Damage to road bridges caused by this earthquake is broadly
categorized as three types: damage by earthquake motion, damage by(http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bbg/saigai/h23tohoku/index.html).
tsunami, and damage by liquefaction.
Road bridges designed based on old standards(Specifications for Highway Bridges) before 1980,and not seismically retrofitted, suffered relatively
severe damage. The following are the main forms ofdamage shown in the surveys.
- Damage to the cutoff section of longitudinal reinforcing bars in RC bridge piers- Damage to the bodies of RC substructures withBridge with Part of its Spans of its Superstructure Washed Away
small quantities of longitudinal reinforcing bars
(Photo provided by the Tohoku Regional Development Bureau)

Earthquake and tsunami-induced damage to buildings
and the later review of related technical standards
Building Department, Research Center for Land and Construction Management

2The NILIM provides support for field surveys and the reviews oftechnological standards in cooperation with the Building ResearchInstitute in order to reflect knowledge obtained from the state of damage
to buildings in future countermeasures against earthquake and tsunami.

The NILIM conducted field surveys of damage to buildings in theDatabase of Buildings Surveyed” and are reflected in the verification
disaster regions immediately after the earthquake in cooperation withof design methods under the current guideline on the structural design
the Building Research Institute.
of buildings for vertical evacuation from tsunamis.
Buildings etc. damaged by earthquake motions included wooden
Under the 2011 Project to Promote the Review of Building
structures, steel structures, reinforced concrete structures, residential
Standards and based on the results of field surveys, the reviews ofland and foundations, and non-structural elements. The results oftechnical standards related to buildings in tsunami-prone areas andsurveys have revealed that characteristics of the damage caused bycountermeasures against the fall of suspended ceilings in buildings
with large-scale atriums have begun in addition to the review of safety
the earthquake motion include relatively widespread damage to nonverification methods against seismic effect of long-period earthquake
structural elements of steel gymnasiums (fallen ceilings, etc.), damage
motions. The NILIM is supporting and cooperating actively in these
to wooden buildings caused by ground deformation in developed
housing areas, and large-scale ground liquefaction, etc. Almost allreviews and working to prepare technical standards which willreinforced concrete buildings in which structural damage was observed
contribute to the mitigation of future damage.
were designed under the old seismic design standards, and the types
Quick report on the above field surveys can be viewed at thefollowing URL.
of damage states were clearly identical to those observed after past
destructive earthquakes.
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0636.htm
With respect to damage tobuildings caused by the tsunami,
field surveys were conducted in theprimary tsunami disaster regions.
The details of damage statessuch as overturned or washedaway structural elements andbroken openings were collected
as well as inundation depth andfundamental specifications ofstructural elements necessary to
calculate horizontal load-carrying
capacity. The results of the above
surveys are summarized as “theExamples of Building Damage Caused by Earthquake Motion (Left) and Tsunami (Right)

Damage to port facilities
Port and Harbor Department , Port Facilities Division

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 severely damaged port
facilities. This damage can be broadly categorized as damage tobreakwaters caused by tsunami and damage to quaywalls caused byearthquake ground motion.
Damage to breakwaters caused by tsunami was conspicuous in ports
where the tsunami waves were high, which included ports ranging
from Aomori Prefecture to Fukushima Prefecture. At Hachinohe Port,
Kamaishi Port, and Ofunato Port and others, breakwater caissons slid,overturned, or sunk. Large scouring caused by the current was also seen.
Quaywall damage was extensive in ports in Fukushima Prefecture
and Ibaraki Prefecture. In ports in and north of Miyagi Prefecture,
quaywall damage was not severe because the amplitude of theearthquake motion was not strong as a consequence of the fact thatthe sedimentation in these ports was shallower than that in the ports inFukushima Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture.
In Soma Port and Ibaraki Port, earthquake motion caused severe
damage to quaywalls. Quaywalls collapsed at multiple locations,particularly in Soma Port shown in the photograph. It is hypothesizedthat first, the earthquake ground motion caused the quaywalls to bulge
out towards the sea and the aprons behind them to subside, then theDamage to Sendai Airport Facilities
Airport Facilities Division, Airport Department

This report presents an overview of the state of damage andemergency restoration performed immediately after the earthquake atSendai Airport.
The Great East Japan Earthquake severely damaged basic airport
facilities (runways, taxiways, aprons). The damage can be broadly
categorized according to its cause as damage by earthquake motion,damage by liquefaction, and damage by tsunami.

tsunami acted on the quay walls in this condition and the backwash
caused a large water level difference, collapsing the quaywalls.
Damage caused by the combined action of earthquake motion andtsunami of this kind is extremely rare. Another characteristic is that as aresult of variations of ground conditions, even in a single port or harbor,the degree of damage varied greatly. In Onahama Port for example,
the ability to explain the gap between the severe damage at No. 3 Pierand the absence of any damage at the Otsurugi Pier as a difference inthe dominant frequencies of the ground was confirmed by observing
microtremors.

Collapsed Quaywall (Soma Port)

Damage caused by earthquake motion was a total of 22 cracks on
runways and taxiways. The cracks were lateral and spanned the full
width of the asphalt surfaces. The cracks penetrated the asphalt mixture
layer, but from the results of FWD testing, which is a non-destructive
test used to diagnose the structure of paving, it was decided that they did
not obstruct its use for the time being, so emergency restoration work
was performed by injecting sealant.
Damage caused by the liquefaction phenomenon occurred on
taxiways and on aprons. Damage to the taxiways was a result ofliquefaction and subsidence which occurred because the backfill soil
around underground structures was sandy material. On these taxiways,

3material was removed in the depth direction from the surface layer
to the base course, then the entire surface was replaced including
smoothing and roller compacting of the subgrade. Undergroundstructures intersected a runway or taxiway at four locations, but threeof these were undamaged, because liquefaction measures had alreadybeen executed.
Subsidence occurred in part of the international service area of theaprons, causing deviation of gradient and cracking of concrete slabs(photo). In this part, liquefaction countermeasure works followed byrestoration of the paving is necessary, so for the time being, the facilities
are closed and work to restore the entire surface is now in progress.
Damage caused by tsunami was mainly deposition of gravel and soil,
but these have been removed and the affected areas have been cleaned
and restored to use.

Cracks and puddles on an apron

Schedule of Principal Events (August to December 2011)
Scheduled Dates

Event Name

Aug. 29 to 30

The 43rd Joint Meeting of the Panel on Wind and Seismic Effect of the United States Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR)

Nov. 8The 9th Environmental Research SymposiumNov. 19

Open House (Public Works Day)

Dec. 1

2011 Conference of the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management

RESEARCH REPORT of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (May-July,2011)
No.
42

Title of Paper
The Architecture of Landscape Simulation System Ver.2.09, provided by MLIT

Names of Divisions
Research Coordinator for Housing Information
System44

Nationwide study on the sessile assemblage inhabiting coastal structures, Japan

Marine Environment Division

45

Dimensions of Mega Container Ship and Berth Dimensions/Container Terminal Area Compatible

Port Planning Division

TECHNICAL NOTE of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management(May-July,2011)
No.

Title of Paper

Names of Divisions

620

Cooperative Research on Performance Verification for Highway PRC Bridge

Bridge and Structures Division

622

Survey on Evacuation from the Chilean-Earthquake Tsunami in 2010

Coast Division627

Dependence on horizontal diffusivity of estimated inflow of drifting litter in Tokyo bay

Coastal Zone Systems Division

628

An Investigation Analysis on the Overseas Supersized Container Terminals

Port and Harbor Department

629

Study on Port Management Policy in the United Kingdom

Port Planning Division

630

Estimating the Economic Effects of Port Investment with Interregional Input-Output Table at thePrefecture Level

Port Systems Division

631

An Examination on International Maritime Container Cargo Flow Focused on Eastern Asia by Sacrifice
ModelPort Systems Division632

A Characteristic Analysis on the Passengers Flows Departing from Local Airports at kyusyu and Setouchi
Districts

Airport Terminal Division633

Sensitivity Analysis of Design Values used for Empirical-Mechanistic Design Method of Airport Pavement Airport Facilities Division

634

Report of the Evaluation Sub Committee of NILIM in FY 2010 Evaluation Committee of NILIM

Research Administration and Evaluation Division,
Planning and Coodination Division

635

Investigation of actual conditions concerning evacuation of vulnerable people at flood damage

Flood Disaster Prevention Division

636

Quick Report of the Field Survey and Research on “The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake”(the Great East Japan Earthquake)

Building Department，Housing Department，Urban Planning Department

638

Investigation of actual conditions concerning system of flood fighting

Flood Disaster Prevention Division■ Documents issued by the NILIM can be viewed at our web site. (http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/index.htm)■ NILIM research activities and achievements are now available on the web site (http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/2011report/index.htm), as Annual Report 2011.

National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

No.37

Summer 2011

Asahi 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0804, Japan(Tachihara) Tachihara 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0802, Japan(Yokosuka) Nagase 3-1-1, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 239-0826, Japan
TEL:+81-29-864-2754 FAX:+81-29-864-4322
Edited and Published by
http://www.nilim.go.jp/english/eindex.htm
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management

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