Report on Building Damage in Northern Ibaraki Prefecture byThe 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake
Released on March 30, 2011

Dr. Toshiyuki Kanakubo and Dr. Akira Yasojima
Dept. of Engineering Mechanics and Energy
University of Tsukuba(Translated by Shunsuke Otani)

1. Reconnaissance Team Members
Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering,
University of Tsukuba, JapanToshiyuki Kanakubo, Associate Professor
Akira Yasojima, Assistant Professor
Masashi Matsumoto, Master course student

2. Schedule and Visiting Sites (see Route Map)
March 23, 2011
(1) Kita-Ibaraki City
(2) Takahagi City
(3) Hitachi City
(4) Hitachi-Naka CityMarch 24, 2011
(1) Kasama City(2) Daigo-machi(3) Hitachi-Ohmiya City
(4) Mito City

Fig. 1: Route Map (Numbers in the map indicate buildings visited)4. Observed Damage
4.1 Kita-Ibaraki City
(1) Kita-Ibaraki City Municipal Office (No. 1 in the route map)
According to the municipal disaster center, 86 buildings (houses) were completely destructed, 126
buildings (houses) were half destructed; Almost of them were damaged by tsunami attacks. Themunicipal office building was not damaged. The tsunami damage was very bad in Hirakata and Ohtsu
Ports. The facilities in a sewage purification factory in Hirakata Port were severely damaged. Municipal
elementary and junior high school buildings had not been retrofitted at the time of the earthquake, but thedamage was relatively light. There were seven gymnasia; all had been retrofitted before the earthquake
and the damage was slight. Hospitals and fire stations were partially damage in the earthen floor..

(2) Hirakata Port (No.2 in the route map)
Several detached houses were damaged. The tsunami height, amplified by the cliff around the harbor,reached as high as 10 m.

Photo 1: Shear cracks on Fisherman’s Cooperative Association Building.

Photo 2: Damage of houses due to tsunami attacks.

(3) Ohtsu Port (No.3 in the route map)
In the Fisherman’s Cooperative Association Building, longitudinal cracks were observed along the coverconcrete of columns, flexural cracks in girders (Photo 3), and diagonal shear cracks in walls (Photo 4).

The damage by tsunami was severe in the port.

Photo 1: Cracks in a column and a girder in the Fisherman’s Cooperative Association Building.

Photo 4: Diagonal cracks in walls in the Fisherman’s Cooperative Association Building.

Photo 5: Damage of houses due to tsunami attacks.

4.2 Takahagi City
(1) Takahagi City Municipal OfficeAccording to the Construction Department of the municipal office, 80 percent of the damaged buildings(houses) in the city were timber construction, and many buildings (houses) suffered damage in roof tiles.
Quick damage inspection on public buildings was carried out from March 13 to 16, and inspection on
privately owned buildings from March 17 to 19. Municipal elementary and junior high schools had notbeen retrofitted at the time of the earthquake, but damage was slight in school buildings. Those buildings
designed and constructed in accordance with the New Seismic Design Procedure (the 1981 revised
Building Standard Law Enforcement Order), suffered slight damage; one exception may be cracking in
the foundation of a mezzanine type house. The damage by tsunami attacks was slight in this area.

The results of quick inspection of public and private buildings are as follows; among 1,171 buildings
inspected, 200 buildings were dangerous (red stickers), 324 buildings were cautious (yellow stickers),
and 647 buildings were “inspected (probably safe but need further examination).

(2) Takahagi City Municipal Main and Second Buildings (No.4 in the route map)
Many shear cracks were observed in the main (constructed in 1958) and second (constructed in 1964)
municipal buildings; the entrance into two buildings was prohibited (Photos 6 to 8).

Photo 6: Shear failure of columns in Second Municipal Building.

Photo 7: Damage of an end wall in Second Municipal Building

Photo 8: Main(left) and Third (right) Municipal Buildings (light cracking in Main Building and damage inexterior wall panels in the Third Building)(3) Shimo-Teduna District (No.5 in the route map)
Soil liquefaction, half destruction of houses, fall of roof tiles were seen in Shimo-teduna district (Photo 9).

Photo 9: Damage in a detached house and fall of masonry walls and roof tiles.

4.3 Hitachi City
Department of Building Guidance of Hitachi City Municipal Office reported heavy damage in Kuji Coast bytsunami attacks; the wave height was estimated to be 4 m. The fall of roof tiles was reported in many
places throughout the city. No damage of municipal elementary and junior high schools was reported.

(1) Hitachi City Municipal Office Building (No. 6 in the route map)
A connecting corridor between two Municipal Buildings, constructed in 1965, suffered light cracking(Photo 11).

Photo 10: Damage of a protruding part of Hitachi City Municipal Office Building

Photo 11: Cracking in the connecting corridor of Hitachi City Municipal Office Buildings(2) Hitachi City Municipal Central Gymnasium (No. 7 in the route map)
Damage of Municipal Central

Gymnasium was observed in the second story column (Photo 12).

Crushing and spalling of concrete was observed at the top and bottom of second story exterior columns.
Bracing members in the ceiling buckled and also fractured at the welding (Photo 13). Shear cracks wereobserved in the entrance walls (Photo 14). Glasses and interior finishing panels fell down.

Photo 12: Damage observed in Hitachi City Municipal Central Gymnasium

Photo 13: Damage on brace members (left: buckling, right: fracture)Photo 14: Damage in entrance walls in Hitachi City Municipal Central Gymnasium(3) Kuji Coast of Hitachi City (No. 8 in the route map)
Tsunami attacks caused heavy damage in Kuji Coast.

Photo 15: Tsunami damage in Kuji Coast

4.4 Hitachi-Naka City (No. 9 in the route map)
The ceiling panels fell down in the Indoor Swimming Pool and Ice-skating Link at Kasamatsu Gymnasium

Park (Photo 16).

Photo 16: The Indoor Swing Pool and Ice Skating Link Building at Kasamatsu Gymnasium Park

4.5 Kasama City
(1) Branch Municipal Office Building of Kasama City (No. 10 in the route map)
The Branch Municipal Office Building of the Kasama City suffered severe damage by ground shaking.
First story columns failed in shear and some columns lost vertical load resistance. Some columns in thesecond story also failed in shear. Shear failure was also observed in columns with a wing wall. The
dimension of columns were 550 mm deep in the direction of shear failure, longitudinal reinforcement waseither 10 bars or 12 of 22 mm plain bars, lateral reinforcement was 9 mm diameter plain bars at 250 mmon centers. Clear height was either approximately 780 mm or 1800 mm.

Photo 17: Damage of the Branch Municipal Office Building of Kasama City

Photo 18: Shear failure of columns in the Branch Municipal Office Building of Kasama City

Photo 19: Shear failure of a column and a column with a wing wall of the Branch Municipal Building

Photo 20: Shear failure and loss of gravity load resistance of columns in the Branch Municipal Building ofKasama City

4.6 Hitachi-Ohmiya City
(1) Hitachi-Ohmiya Civil Engineering Service Building (No. 11 in the route map)
The Hitachi-Ohmiya Civil Engineering Service Building, constructed in 1968, was retrofitted before theearthquake. The settlement due to cracking in girders, shear cracking in columns and concrete crushingof columns was observed. The longitudinal reinforcement was diameter 22 mm plain bars, and lateralreinforcement diameter 9 mm plain bars.

Photo 21: Over view and inside of the Hitachi-Ohmiya Civil Engineering Service Building

Photo 22: Cracks in a girder and a column in the Hitachi-Ohta Civil Engineering Service Building

Photo 23: Flexural crack and concrete crushing in columns of the Hitachi-Ohta Civil Engineering ServiceBuilding(2) Hitachi-Ohta Fire Fighting Headquarter Building (No.13 in the route map)
The roof of a tower for training fell on the roof of the Hitachi-Ohta Fire Fighting Headquarter Building
during the earthquake.

Photo 24: Overall view and fall of training tower roof in the Hitachi-Ohta Fire Fighting Headquarter
Building

Photo 25: Before (right) and after (left) of the Hitachi-Ohta Fire Fighting Headquarter Building

4.7 Daigo-Machi
Daigo-machi Municipal Office Building (No. 12 in the route map) suffered minor cracking in walls. Most
damage in the town was deformation of roads and landslides. The fall of roof tiles was relatively small inthe number.

Photo 26: Overall view of Daigo-machi Municipal Office Building and cracks in a wall

Photo 27: Cracks in walls in Daigo-machi Municipal Office Building

4.8 Mito City
In Kohdo-kan Park (No. 14 in the route map), minor damage was observed in traditional buildings.
Damage was observed in the gymnasium building of Mito First High School.

Photo 28: Damage of Confucius Mausoleum Entrance Gate, and collapse of Alarm Bell Building

Photo 29: Damage in Gymnasium of Mito First High School and its foundation