********************************************************************************************IISEE Newsletter No.80

May 22, 2012********************************************************************************************+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Contents++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. Inviting New Participants of 2012-2013 IISEE courses
2. International Memorial Symposium by IISEE/UNESCO/GRIPS
3. Damage by a Tornado in Tsukuba city (May 6, 2012)
4. Ex-participant of IISEE in Turkey will make a presentation at JICA-Turkey WS++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++============================================================================[1] Inviting New Participants of 2012-2013 IISEE courses
Training course on “Seismology, Earthquake Engineering and Disaster-Recovery Management Policy”
is now inviting applicants from the following 20 countries (total 21 persons); Indonesia, thePhilippines, Myanmar, China, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Iran, Turkey, Uganda, Serbia, Armenia andTurkmenistan.
The deadline of application to each JICA country Office is June 8 (Friday), 2012.If you know someone
who will be suitable to the application, please introduce him/her to ask JICA Office.The candidates
are required at least 3 years practices at governmental or university organization after graduate auniversity.
http://www.igp.gob.pe/igp/images/documents/cbohorquez/daa/eventose/may12/005.pdf
One year Tsunami Disaster Mitigation course is also open to the candidates in the Philippines,
Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Chile and Peru (total 7 persons).
Hajime KUROSAWA
Head of Administration Division, IISEE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[2] International Memorial Symposium by IISEE/UNESCO/GRIPSIISEE will hold an international memorial symposium co-hosted by the UNESCO and GRIPS on
June 27 (Wednesday), 2012 in Tokyo. The symposium commemorates the 50 years anniversary of
establishment of IISEE (in 1962) and the cooperation of UNESCO at the initial stage of IISEE
training.
Web-site: (GRIPS) http://www.grips.ac.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/20120516-928e.pdf
The contents of the symposium is announced at the following web-site. The fee is free and English
and Japanese simultaneous translation is available. Dr. Oike, the former President of the Kyoto
University will make a ken-note lecture on “The Future of Seismology” and Dr. B. Rouhban of
UNESCO will also make a keynote presentation. We will provide live video transmission and arelooking forward to your participation.
Hajime KUROSAWA
Head of Administration Division, IISEE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[3] Damage by a Tornado in Tsukuba city (May 6, 2012)
In the afternoon of May 6 (Sunday), a tornado of the Fujita Scale level 2 has occurred in Tsukuba city.
One person died and houses were totally or partially collapsed. The Building Research Institute(BRI) conducted field investigation immediately after the disaster on the same day, and provides aquick report of the damage as on the back page of Newsletter. Detailed analysis will be carried out.
Shoichi ANDO
Director, IISEE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[4] Ex-participant of IISEE in Turkey will make a presentation at JICA-Turkey WS
Ms. TETIK Cigdem of Turkey who joined IISEE’s Seismology course in 2010-2011 (during the Great
East Japan Earthquake) will make a presentation at the Workshop of JICA- Turkey 60 years
International Cooperation on Earthquake Engineering. The WS will be held on July , in Istanbul andProf. Irikura, Prof. Furumura, Prof. Kabeyasawa and other famous experts from Japan will also
make presentations.
IISEE

===========================================================================********************************************************************************************We send this IISEE Newsletter to ex-participants whose e-mail addresses are known, lecturers andother stakeholders. The IISEE send new data and information actively and accept your contribution
at any time. In order to enlarge IISEE network, we'd like to ask you to invite your fellow
ex-participants whose e-mail addresses are unknown to us. We welcome your comments about the
IISEE Newsletter. Please feel free to send your comments and opinions. IISEE welcomes yourparticipation.
Email: iiseenews@kenken.go.jp
Website: http://iisee.kenken.go.jp
Newsletter Back Numbers: http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/nldb/********************************************************************************************

May 8, 2012, revision May 9, 2012

Quick Report on Damage to Buildings by the Tornado on May 6,
2012 in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, JAPAN
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM),
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)(Incorporated Administrative Agency) Building Research Institute (BRI)

1. Introduction
Buildings suffered damage from a tornado which occurred around 1:00 PM on May 6, 2012 centeredin Hojo area, Osuna area and Tsukuba North Industrial Park in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki prefecture.
NILIM and BRI jointly conducted quick field investigations to grasp outlines of damage to buildings
and others in Tsukuba city. The Japan Meteorological Agency announced 1) that the phenomena were
estimated as a tornado (with Fujita Scale of F2) as of May 7. (For the outline of Fujita Scale, see
Appendix A.)
The followings illustrate outline of damage to buildings and others through the field investigation.
Further surveys and analysis will be conducted based on this field survey information. In addition,
Appendix B introduces past major damage by tornados after 1990, including a tornado that occurredin Tsuchiura city next to Tsukuba on October 8, 2009.

2. Outline of Investigation
2.1 Data and Areas of Investigation
May 6 (Sunday) PM

Hojo area, Tsukuba city

May 7 (Monday) AM

Hojo area, Tsukuba city

PM
May 8 (Tuesday) PM

Osuna area and Tsukuba North Industrial Park, Tsukuba city
Yamaki and Hojo areas, Tsukuba city

2.2 Investigators
Yasuo Okuda, Atsuo Fukai and Toshikazu Kabeyasawa (Building Department, NILIM)
Takahiro Tsuchimoto (Research Center for Land and Construction Management, NILIM)
Hitomitsu Kikitsu and Yasuhiro Araki (Department of Structural Engineering, BRI)
Takafumi Nakagawa (Department of Building Materials and Components, BRI)
Wataru Nagai (Department of Production Engineering, BRI)

1

3. Areas of Investigation
Investigation was conducted in Hojo area, Osuna area and Tsukuba North Industrial Park ofTsukuba city as shown in Figure 1, in which the red circle indicates Hojo area and the blue circle
does Osuna area and Tsukuba North Industrial Park. Section 4 shows damage in Hojo and Osuna
areas and Section 5 shows damage in Tsukuba North Industrial Park, respectively. The black circle
shows NILIM and BRI located at about 5km from the estimated path of the tornado.

NILIM/BRI
Tsuchiura city

0

2.5

5km

Tsukuba city
©2012 Google -地図データ©2012ZENRIN

Figure 1 Areas of Damage Investigation (Arrow shows estimated direction of movement of the tornado)

4. Outline of Damage to Buildings etc. in Hojo and Other Areas in Tsukuba City
4.1 Damage to Wooden Buildings
Damage cases observed in Hojo and Osuna areas are shown as below. (1) to (5) show structural
damage, while (6) and (7) show damage of exterior materials.
(1) Turn-over of Upper Structure with Basement
A wooden structure A (Photos 1, 2) completely turned over with detached flat basement from ground.

2

Photo 1 Wooden Building A

Photo 2 Turned flat basement of Wooden Building A

Note: A light vehicle in front of the building A was parked at the investigation.

(2) Collapse of Upper Structure
Though the details of the collapsed structure cannot be grasped, wooden structure B (this side, Photo3) and C (Photo 4) totally collapsed because tornado-induced wind load was estimated to surpass
load-carrying capacity of these structures.

Photo 3 Wooden building B (this side, collapsed one)

Photo 4 Wooden Building C(3) Scatter of Upper Structure
Whole upper structures (of wooden buildings D and E) were scattered. In the case of wooden building
D (Photo 5), a part of the foundation beam remained (Photo 6) but most of upper structures were
scattered. And in the case of wooden building E (Photo 7) upper parts of floor board were scattered.
.

3

Photo 5 Wooden Building D

Photo 6 Remaining foundation beam of Wooden Building D

Photo 7 Wooden Building E(4) Horizontal Movement of Upper Structure
A case of horizontal movement of upper structure to the road was observed (Wooden Building F,
Photo 8). Anchor bolts or connection of columns and foundation beam were collapsed by stronger
horizontal force of tornado.

Photo 8 Wooden Building F

4

(5) Collapse and Scattering of Roof Truss
Many cases of damage to roof truss’s were observed. The damage cases are shown in Photo 9 of agable roof (comparatively old house), Photo 10 of a gable roof (comparatively new house), Photo 11 of
a hipped roof and Photo 12 of a pent roof, respectively.
.

Photo 9 Wooden Building G

Photo 10 Wooden Building H

Photo 11 Wooden Building I

Photo 12 Wooden Building J(6) Breakage of Openings
Openings are considered to have been broken due to out-of-plane wind pressure or collision of flying
debris induced by the tornado.
The damage from out-of-plane wind pressure (Photos 13 and 14) caused breakage of whole openings
of affected exterior walls in many cases, while partial damage of openings was seen in the case ofcollision of flying debris.

5

Photo 13 Wooden Building K

Photo 14 Wooden Building L(7) Peeling off and Scattering of Roofing and Exterior Materials
Substantial damage to roofing materials was observed (Photo 15). In addition, metal roofing
materials were confirmed to have been scattered to considerable distances.
On the other hand, dislodging of exterior materials was observed in exterior walls with mortar. In
some cases the groundwork materials were confirmed rotten. It is claimed that the mortared exterior
walls will not collapse except the cases of additional deformation of other structural components orfrom additional lateral forces, this cited failure is not determined to occur because of the latterreason of the two.

Photo 15 Wooden Building M

Photo 16 Wooden Building N

4.2 Damage to Steel Building Structure
Major damage cases observed in steel buildings are shown in the following;(1) Collapse and Scattering of Roof Truss and Breakage of Exterior Materials
The collapse and scattering of roof trusses with damage of exterior materials and windows wereobserved in a light-gauge steel framed house.

6Photo17 Steel Framed Building A(2) Residual Deformation of Structural Frame
Residual deformation of structural frame was observed in a warehouse building.

Photo 18 Steel Framed Building B(3) Turn Sideways of Garage
A steel framed building used as a garage fell down and turned sideways.

Photo 19 Steel Framed Building C

Photo 20 Pull out of column base shown in Photo 19

4.3 Damage to Reinforced Concrete Building
Major damage to a reinforced concrete building was observed as introduced below;(1) Damage to Openings and Fittings
Window glass, frames, handrails of verandah etc. of a five-story multifamily housing were7

significantly damaged on the south side. Similar damage was observed on the north side although
the openings were small.

Photo 21 South side of a public multifamily housing

Photo 22 Windows and handrails 1

Photo 23 Windows and handrails 2

Photo 24 North side of a public multifamily housing

4.4 Damage by Flying Debris
Much damage to exterior facials and openings by tornado-induced flying debris was confirmed.
8

Photos 25 and 26 show traces of collision at an entrance of a shopping center, Photos 27 and 28 show
the collision of flying roof/roofing materials and Photo 29 shows a flying roofing material hung atelectric cables.

Photo 25 Evidence of collision to window

Photo 26 Evidence of collision to exterior material

Photo 27 Scattered long steel roofing materials

Photo 28 Collision of flying roof frame

Photo 29 Roofing materials hung at electric cables

4.5 Other Damage
9

The followings are of additional cases to the previously introduced ones within sections 4.4. Photos
30 and 31 show collapse of a roof at gas station and heavy deformation of roofing materials at abicycle station, Photo 32 shows collapsed stone fence, Photos 33 and 34 show broken electricity poles,
Photo 35 indicates broken trees and Photos 36 and 37 indicate rolling cars etc. Photo 33 shows
continuous broken electricity poles or inclined ones while Photo 34 shows the situation of broken
electricity pole affecting a neighboring house. Turnover of not only light vehicles but also heavier
vehicles and a truck was observed. (Photo 37)

Photo 30 Collapse of a gas station roof

Photo 31 Heavy deformation of roof of a bicycle park

Photo 32 Collapse of stone fence

10

Photo 33 Broken / inclined electricity poles 1

Photo 34 Broken / inclined electricity poles 2

Photo 35 Broken tree

Photo 36 Overturned cars

Photo 37 Rolling truck

5. Damage to Buildings in the Tsukuba North Industrial ParkThe following damage was confirmed in the Tsukuba North Industrial Park.
(1) Damage to Glass
Window breakages were observed at exteriors and within roofed passages of reinforced concrete or11steel framed buildings.

Photo 38 Broken window of a roofed passage

Photo 39 Broken window of exterior wall

(2) Damage to Exterior Materials, etc.
Damage to exterior materials and eave soffits was confirmed in steel framed buildings.

Photo 40 Breakage of exterior and windows

Photo 41 Breakage of eave soffits(3) Damage to Roofing Materials
Damage to roofing materials of steel framed buildings was confirmed. Some roofing materials were
scattered far to the next factory on the other side of the street more than several dozen meters.

Photo 42 Damage of roofing materials

Photo 43 Scattered roofing materials

12(4) Other Damage
Some cases of broken trees and fallen trees pulled up by the roots were confirmed.

Photo 44 Fallen tree that was pulled up by the root

6. Summary
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) and Building ResearchInstitute (BRI) jointly conducted field investigations on building damage caused by the tornado
which occurred on May 6 in Tsukuba city Ibaraki prefecture, in order to understand the situation
immediately after the disaster.
With respect to structural damage to buildings, collapse and movement of upper structures ofwooden buildings and scattered roof trusses were observed. In addition, scattered roofing materials
of wooden buildings, window breakage over roofing passages of steel framed buildings, window
breakage and damage to handrails of verandah of a reinforced concrete building, and damage causedby the collision of tornado-induced flying debris were observed.
We sincerely express our condolences to a victim and his family and to the injured residents causedby the tornado. We have received cooperation for the field investigation by the affected persons andinstitutions, and express our gratitude for their cooperation.

Reference
1) Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): May 7 ,2012 Tornado occurred in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki
prefecture on May 6, 2012
http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/data/bosai/tornado/new/2012050601/2012050601.pdf

13

Appendix A
Fujita Scale
Source : NOAA’s National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f-scale.html

Scale
F0

F1

F2

Wind Estimate< 73mph( < 32m/s )73 – 112mph(33 – 49m/s)
113 – 157mph(50 – 69m/s)
158 – 206mph

F3

F4(70 – 92m/s)
207 – 260mph(93 – 116m/s)
261 – 318mph

F5(117 – 142m/s)

Typical Damage
Light damage.
Some damage to chimneys; branches broken off
shallow-rooted trees pushed over; sign boards damaged.

trees;

Moderate damage.
Peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations oroverturned; moving autos blown off roads.
Considerable damage.
Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars
overturned; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles
generated; cars lifted off ground.
Severe damage.
Roofs and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains
overturned; most trees in forest uprooted; heavy cars lifted off theground and thrown.
Devastating damage.
Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations
blown away some distance; cars thrown and large missiles
generated.
Incredible damage.
Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away;
automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100
meters (109 yds); trees debarked; incredible phenomena will occur.

*** IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT F-SCALE WINDS: Do not use F-scale winds literally. These
precise wind speed numbers are actually guesses and have never been scientifically verified.
Different wind speeds may cause similar-looking damage from place to place -- even from building tobuilding. Without a thorough engineering analysis of tornado damage in any event, the actual windspeeds needed to cause that damage are unknown.

14

Appendix B
This appendix contains a list of major damage by tornadoes from 1990 in Japan. URLs of related
NILIM/BRI investigation reports are also introduced.

Feb. 1990
Mobara Tornado (Mobara city, Futtsu city etc., Chiba pref.)F3（70-92m/s）
Damage area; length 5 km, width max. 1 km
Death 0, seriously injured 7, slightly injured 72 persons
Totally collapsed 85, half collapsed 176, partially damaged 1843 houses (Chiba pref.)(BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/contents/publications/data/78.htm

Sept. 1999
Toyohashi Tornado (Toyohashi city, Toyokawa city etc., Aichi pref.)F3（70-92m/s）
Damage area; length 19 km, width max. 550 m
Death 1, seriously injured 14, slightly injured 400 persons
Totally collapsed 40, half collapsed 309, partially damaged 1980 houses (Toyohashi city)
July 2002
Sakai Tornado (Sakai town, Gunma pref. and Fukaya city, Saitama pref.)Damage area; length 5 km, width max. 100 m
Death 0, seriously injured 1, slightly injured 11 persons
Totally collapsed 7, half collapsed 31 houses (Sakai town, Fukaya city)(BRI investigation report in Japanese)F2（50-69m/s）

http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/research/str/list/topics/tatsumaki/index.pdf

June 2004
Saga Tornado (Saga city, Tosu city etc., Saga pref.)F2（50-69m/s）
Damage area; length 8 km, width max. 300 m
Death 0, seriously injured 0, slightly injured 15 persons
Totally collapsed 13, half collapsed 34, partially damaged 322 houses (Saga, Tosu etc.)(NILIM/BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/2005saga/index.pdf

Sept. 2006
Nobeoka Tornado (Nobeoka city, Miyazaki pref.)F2（50-69m/s）
Damage area; length 7.5 km, width max. 250 m
Death 3, seriously injured 3, slightly injured 140 persons
Totally collapsed 71, half collapsed 317, partially damaged 599 houses(BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/2006taifu13/2006taifu13.pdf
Nov. 200615

Saroma Tornado (Saroma town, Hokkaido)
F3（70-92m/s）
Damage area; length 1.4 km, width approx. 100m – 300m
Death 3, seriously injured 6, slightly injured 25 persons
Totally collapsed 7, half collapsed 7, partially damaged 25 houses(BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/2006saroma/2006saroma.pdf

May 2008
U.S.A. Iowa Tornado (Parkersburg, Iowa, U.S.A.)
EF5（89m/s-）EF scale
Death 8, seriously and slightly injured more than 50 persons
Totally collapsed 394, half collapsed 65, partially damaged 162 houses(BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp./japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/2008iowa/index.pdf

July 2009
Mimasaka Tornado (Mimasaka city, Okayama pref.)F2（50-69m/s）
Damage area; length approx. 10 km
Slightly injured 2 persons
Totally collapsed 2, partially damaged 72 houses(NILIM/BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp./japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/090719-okayama.pdf

July 2009
Tatebayashi Tornado (Tatebayashi city, Gunma pref.)F1 or F2（33-69m/s）
Damage area; length approx. 6.5 km
Totally collapsed 25, half collapsed 33, partially damaged 361 houses(NILIM/BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp./japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/090727-gunma.pdf

Oct. 2009
Tsuchiura Tornado (Tsuchiura city, Ibaraki pref.)F1（33-49m/s）
Damage area; length approx. 2.8 km, width approx. 200m – 300m
Totally collapsed 1, half collapsed 11, partially damaged 94 houses(NILIM/BRI investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.kenken.go.jp/japanese/contents/activities/other/disaster/kaze/091008-tuchiura.pdf

Feb. 2012
Izumo Tornado (Izumo city, Shimane pref.)Damage area; length approx. 7 km
(NILIM investigation report in Japanese)
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bbg/saigai/h24shimane/h24shimane.pdf

16

F0（17-32m/s）