Contents■ A M7.0 Earthquake Hit Northern Japan on 26th May, 2003,■ Sixth Japan-Canada Housing R & D Workshop■ US-Japan Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects■ Japan-Sweden Workshop, "Road Science and Technology"■ Earthquake Damages in Algeria■ TECHNICAL NOTE of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management（April-May, 2003）

No.6

NI L

September 2003

I M

N e w sL e t t e r■ A M7.0 Earthquake Hit Northern Japanon 26th May, 2003,
At 18:24 on 26 th May, 2003, an earthquake with amagnitude of 7.0 on the JMA scale took place along thePacific coast of northeast Japan. The focal depth was foundto be 71 km. The city of Sendai and its northern area wereviolently shaken. Figure1 shows the peak horizontal
acceleration on the ground observed by the seismographnetwork of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure andTransport（MLIT）. As shown in Figure1, peak ground

ISSN 0389-4150

public research institutes. Photo1 shows the flow slide of agently banked slope with an inclination of 11°for a width of
50 m where the soil travelled 160 m. It is inferred that thevolcanic ash soil was liquefied. While road bridges did notsustain any significant damage, the cover concrete ofseveral tens of piers of the Shinkansen railway line waspeeled off.

Photo 1 Large-scale flow slide of a banked slope

Figure 1 Distribution of the peak horizontal acceleration on the ground observedby the seismograph network of the MLIT

acceleration exceeding 1G was recorded at threeobservation points. Although no fatal casualty wasrecorded, 172 people were injured and the total amount ofdamage is estimated to be ¥13.2 billion. The NILIM
conducted a reconnaissance survey, jointly with three otherPort facilities did not sustain any functional damage.
Nevertheless, a relatively large-scale phenomenon ofliquefaction was observed in the Nonoda District of PortOhfunato（Photo2）. Traces of sand boil were observed frombehind the open-type wharf on vertical piles and batter pilewith sheet pile wall to some 60 m inland. The browed up
sands in the inland area contained gravels as large as 5 cm
in diameter. The earthquake caused subsidence of some
10-15 cm of the concrete paving at the cargo handling area.
This figure represents approximately 1% of the entire
thickness of reclaimed soil, which is deemed rather minor
subsidence caused by liquefaction.
Damage to housing was relatively small; only two weretotally destroyed and 21 were partially destroyed. AmongNILIM

News Letter

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Photo 2 Deposit of silt erupted out behind a pier50
1995 Hyogoken Nanbu
earthquake

Response Acceleration(m/s2)

RC buildings, a municipal office building and a primaryschool building, etc.（ see Photo3）sustained structural
damage but other buildings sustained little damage. Steelframed gymnasiums suffered the rupture or buckling of its
bracing members, buckling of the truss materials anddamage to the anchor sections of the roof truss. In addition,
damage possibly leading to the loss of the building
functions and human casualties occurred, including the fallof exterior, interior and ceiling materials, damage to and thefall of smoke-proof glass, the fall of air-conditioning ducts
and the fall of books.
Figure 2 shows the acceleration response spectra of thestrong motion records. One of major characteristics of thisearthquake is that the short period component of groundmotion is dominant compared to the 1995 Hyogoken Nanbu
earthquake. This characteristics is believed to be the major
reason for the light damage despite the large peak groundacceleration.

10May 26 th, 2003
earthquake

10.3
0.1

0.5

15

Natural Period(s)Photo 3 Damage to the corridor wall of a primary school building

Figure 2 Acceleration response spectra（h = 5%）■ Sixth Japan - Canada Housing R & D Workshop
The Sixth Japan - Canada Housing R & D Workshop washeld on 4th（Wednesday）and 5th（Thursday）June, 2003 atthe Tsukuba International Conference Center in Tsukuba（sponsored by the Building Research Institute, the National
Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, theInstitute for Building Environment and Energy
Conservation, the Natural Resources Canada, the National
Research Council Canada, the Canada Mortgage andHousing Corporation and the Department of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade）.
More than 200 people participated in the Workshop,
including 13 people from Canada, 56 people from Japanesebuilding material manufacturers, 22 people from housingdevelopers, 86 people from other industries in the private
sector and 38 related people, including authors of Japaneseguidelines and university academics.
The main component of the Workshop was explanation of"Guidelines to Avoid Moisture and Condensation Problems
in Energy Efficient Building Envelopes" which had been
prepared in advance by experts in Japan and Canada
incorporating the latest information available in bothcountries to housing developers in order to respond torequests by these developers and to incorporate theprogress of research. In addition, the themes of presented
papers featured the latest information on energy saving
measures in Japan and Canada as well as information on"sick house syndrome" which is a major point of concern fordevelopers regarding the Building Standards Law revised inJuly, 2002.
The contents of these presentations are outlined below.
Firstly, the latest information on energy saving measures
was presented with a detailed explanation of the present
situation of energy consumption in Japan and Canada, thetarget values based on the Kyoto Protocol for the twocountries and the contents as well as future prospects ofenergy saving measures promoted by the two governments.
The latest technologies were also introduced.
The next presentation was about the latest informationon the control and ventilation of pollutants from building
materials. The subjects explained were, among others, thecurrent situation of the indoor air quality（IAQ）of housing,analysis of how pollutants from building materials arereleased to cause air pollution, ventilation systemstandards as a measure to deal with the problem of sickhousing under the Building Standards Law and theCanadian approach to ventilation systems and the problem
of indoor air pollution.
These presentations were followed by an explanation of
the contents of the Guidelines. This explanationcommenced with the basic issues regarding condensation
and wide-ranging subjects were then discussed together
with the structure of the Guidelines. These included damp-proofing measures for building envelopes, design tools,
evaluation of the condensation prevention performance andbuilding envelopes design examples.
Finally, four researchers and those in actual business,
including Mr. Yuzo Minami, a building technology critic,
were invited as guest commentators to comment on theGuidelines and the laws and regulations surrounding
buildings from their own specialist point of view, followedby an active Q & A session between them and theparticipants of the Workshop.
At the same time, display booths were set up in the lobbyof the venue. These displays featured various materials andconstruction methods relating to building envelopes andventilation systems, etc., including displays by theCanadian sponsors. During the breaks, many of theparticipants were seen to earnestly gather the various
information on display.
Prior to the Workshop, a technical tour was organized toa housing construction site and other places. Moreover, areception was held following the presentations on 4th June,
attracting many of the participants who actively exchanged
information between themselves while enjoying
refreshments.

Photo 4 Technical tour to construction site

■ US - Japan Panel on Wind and SeismicEffects
The 35th Joint Meeting of the US-Japan Panel on Windand Seismic Effects of the US-Japan Cooperative Programin Natural Resources（UJNR）was held on May 12 th
through 14th, 2003 at the National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management（NILIM）. Thirteen members ofthe NILIM, including Mr. Haruhiko Okuno, the Director
General of the NILIM, participated in this Joint Meeting on
the Japanese side together with many staff members who
provided support for the Joint Meeting while 18 people,including Mr. H. S. Lew, Acting Chairman of the Panel,participated on the US side.
In seven technical sessions, 31 submitted papers（16from Japan and 15 from the US）were actively discussed.
The Panel had five task committees（T/Cs）
to ensure closelyknit activities and the Resolutions for the 35th Joint Meeting
approved the setting up of a new task committee on thesubject of "advanced information and communication
technology for disaster prevention and public healthevaluation" to be jointly chaired by the NILIM, the Cabinet
Office, and US-side chairs.
The Final Resolutions consist of 12 items, including
approval of the new task committee. Other items include
the strengthening of cooperative activities and theexploration of new ideas and areas based on the confirmed
importance of the continued work of the Panel, approval offour T/C workshops, dissemination of the Panel's work to
the rest of the world through the Internet and the plan tohold the 36th Joint Meeting in May, 2004 in the US to behosted by the US side.

Photo 5 Participants of the 35th Joint Meeting of the US-Japan Panel on Windand Seismic Effects, UJNR

■ Japan-Sweden Workshop, "RoadScience and Technology"
On 2 nd and 3 rd June, 2003, the Third Japan-Sweden
Workshop, "Road Science and Technology" was held inLidingo, Sweden under the joint auspices of the twocountries. The themes for this Workshop were "Roadtechnology in snowy and cold regions" and "Road andtransport management". More than 30 research scientists
and engineers from the two countries participated,
including, Mr.Okuno, Director General of the NILIM andrepresentatives of the Road Bureau, the Hokkaido RegionalDevelopment Bureau, the Public Works Research Instituteand the Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido on
the Japanese side and Mr. Henriksson, Ambassador,
Director of the International Secretariat of the Swedish
National Road Administration and Dr. Karlström, Directorof the Swedish National Road and Transport ResearchInstitute on the Swedish side. The presentations wereregarding road technologies in snowy and cold regions, androad and transport management in practical application,
recent R&D topics and research results, and these wereactively discussed by the participants.
The Third Workshop followed the path opened up by theFirst Workshop in December, 2000 which was based on
Implementing arrangement concerning researchcooperation in the field of road science and technology
concluded between the NILIM and the Swedish National
Road Administration in October, 1999.
In addition to the decision to hold the next workshop in
Japan around May, 2005, further consultation on
personnel exchanges was agreed by the two sides.

Photo 6 Participants of the Opening Ceremony of the Workshop（courtesy of Mr. Johan Knutsson）

■ Earthquake Damages in Algeria
At 19:44（local time）on 21st May, 2003, an earthquake
measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale took place in Algeria
and the epicenter was at the seabed some 7 km north ofZemmouri in the Boumerdes Prefecture. The maximum
acceleration was approximately 580 gal observed insouthern Boumerdes and considerable damage was caused
in areas near the epicenter（Figure3 and Figure4）.
After the earthquake and in response to a request madeby the Algerian government, the Japanese government
dispatched a team of experts to survey the damage in thedisaster-hit areas for the evaluation of building safety andother matters（1 〜6 in Figure3）. The Algiers andBoumerdes Prefecture were the worst hit. According to asurvey conducted by the Algerian government, more than
2,200 people were killed and more than 12,000 people wereinjured. Some 100,000 people were forced to live in tents inthe aftermath of the earthquake. While 12,000 buildings
collapsed or were otherwise seriously damaged, suchinfrastructure as roads, railway lines and ports sustainedmuch less damage.
Many of the damaged buildings were low to medium
height with RC frame structures and unreinforced brickwalls. The entire storeys of some buildings collapsed. In thecase of those buildings which had fewer walls due to theuse of the ground floor for a shop or garage, etc., thedamage appears to have been concentrated on the groundfloor in many cases. Some of these buildings actually fellover. The photo7 shows the completely collapsed section ofa three storey RC classroom building on the south campusof Boumerdes University located at survey point 2.

Earnest efforts are required to rehouse those people living
in tents toward permanent houses, to investigate thecauses of the damage to buildings, to repair the damagedbuildings and to introduce appropriate measures to prepare
for an earthquake disaster in the future.

Epicenter
Zemmouri
Town

Alger Prefecture
Boumerdes
Prefecture3146036925Acceleration Site

12km

Scale

Figure 3 Map of damaged area and Survey points 1-6

ITALY
SPAIN

Tunis

Alger
Casablanca

TUNISIA

MOROCCOTripoli

ALGERIALIBYAA

MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER
A

NiameyFigure 4 Map of Algeria

Photo 7 Boumerdes University■ TECHNICAL NOTE of National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management（April-May, 2003）
Title of Paper
No.
64 FY2001 ANNUAL REPORT OF WATER QUALITY CONTROL DEPARTMENTNames of Divisions
Water Quality Control Department

68 Researches on technology utilizing artificial satellites for urban green surveyLandscape and Ecology Division

70 Research on a Method of Estimating the Range of Debris Flow Damage to Buildings

Erosion and Sediment Control Division

71 SATURN-Seismic Assessment Tool for Urgent Response and Notification
78 Hydraulic Study on Accumulation of Drifting Wood at a Bridge During a Flood.

Earthquake Disaster Prevention Division
River Division

The Standard about the Judgment of the Condominium which is in a Dangerous Situation for Housing Planning Division
reasons of Security or Detrimental Situation for reasons of Sanitation （Proposal）Based on the 1st83
Clause of the 102nd Article of Law for the Facilitation of Rebuilding of Condominium, andRelated Data
84

Manual for Consensus Formation about Rebuilding Condominium Manual for Judging Whether Housing Planning Division
to Rebuild or to Repair/Improve Condominium

86

Report of the Symposium about Condominium Rebuilding -How to Prepare for Condominium Housing Planning Division
Rebuilding?-

Airport Facilities Division
100 Application of High Strength Concrete in Airport Pavements
Numerical Simulations of Airport Pavement Structures Based on Three-dimensional Finite Airport Facilities Division
101
Elements
102 Applicability of Consistent Curing Method in Airport Concrete Pavement
103

The 11th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia

Airport Facilities Division
Research Administration
Cooperation DivisionandInternational6

National Institute for Land and Infrastructure ManagementNo.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
September2003
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