b**********n 发帖数: 2812 | 1 Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives
By JAMES GLANZ and NORIMITSU ONISHI
Hidden inside the skeletons of high-rise towers, extra steel bracing, giant
rubber pads and embedded hydraulic shock absorbers make modern Japanese
buildings among the sturdiest in the world during a major earthquake. And
all along the Japanese coast, tsunami warning signs, towering seawalls and
well-marked escape routes offer some protection from walls of water.
These precautions, along with earthquake and tsunami drills that are routine
for every Japanese citizen, show why Japan is the best-prepared country in
the world for the twin disasters of earthquake and tsunami — practices that
undoubtedly saved lives, though the final death toll is unknown.
In Japan, where earthquakes are far more common than they are in the United
States, the building codes have long been much more stringent on specific
matters like how much a building may sway during a quake.
After the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which killed about 6,000 people and
injured 26,000, Japan also put enormous resources into new research on
protecting structures, as well as retrofitting the country’s older and more
vulnerable structures. Japan has spent billions of dollars developing the
most advanced technology against earthquakes and tsunamis.
Japan has gone much further than the United States in outfitting new
buildings with advanced devices called base isolation pads and energy
dissipation units to dampen the ground’s shaking during an earthquake.
The isolation devices are essentially giant rubber-and-steel pads that are
installed at the very bottom of the excavation for a building, which then
simply sits on top of the pads. The dissipation units are built into a
building’s structural skeleton. They are hydraulic cylinders that elongate
and contract as the building sways, sapping the motion of energy.
Of course, nothing is entirely foolproof. Structural engineers monitoring
the events from a distance cautioned that the death toll was likely to rise
as more information became available. Dr. Jack Moehle, a structural engineer
at the University of California, Berkeley, said that video of the disaster
seemed to show that some older buildings had indeed collapsed.
The country that gave the world the word tsunami, especially in the 1980s
and 1990s, built concrete seawalls in many communities, some as high as 40
feet, which amounted to its first line of defense against the water. In some
coastal towns, in the event of an earthquake, networks of sensors are set
up to set off alarms in individual residences and automatically shut down
floodgates to prevent waves from surging upriver.
Critics of the seawalls say they are eyesores and bad for the environment.
The seawalls, they say, can instill a false sense of security among coastal
residents and discourage them from participating in regular evacuation
drills. Moreover, by literally cutting residents’ visibility of the ocean,
the seawalls reduce their ability to understand the sea by observing wave
patterns, critics say.
Waves from Friday’s tsunami spilled over some seawalls in the affected
areas. “The tsunami roared over embankments in Sendai city, washing cars,
houses and farm equipment inland before reversing directions and carrying
them out to sea,” according to a statement by a Japanese engineer, Kit
Miyamoto, circulated by the American Society of Civil Engineers. “Flames
shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.”
But Japan’s “massive public education program” could in the end have
saved the most lives, said Rich Eisner, a retired tsunami preparedness
expert who was attending a conference on the topic at the National Institute
of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., on Friday.
In one town, Ofunato, which was struck by a major tsunami in 1960, dozens of
signs in Japanese and English mark escape routes, and emergency sirens are
tested three times a day, Mr. Eisner said.
Initial reports from Ofunato on Friday suggested that hundreds of homes had
been swept away; the death toll was not yet known. But Matthew Francis of
URS Corporation and a member of the civil engineering society’s tsunami
subcommittee, said that education may have been the critical factor.
“For a trained population, a matter of 5 or 10 minutes is all you may need
to get to high ground,” Mr. Francis said.
That would be in contrast to the much less experienced Southeast Asians,
many of whom died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because they lingered
near the coast. Reports in the Japanese news media indicate that people
originally listed as missing in remote areas have been turning up in schools
and community centers, suggesting that tsunami education and evacuation
drills were indeed effective.
Unlike Haiti, where shoddy construction vastly increased the death toll last
year, or China, where failure to follow construction codes worsened the
death toll in the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Japan enforces some
of the world’s most stringent building codes. Japanese buildings tend to be
much stiffer and stouter than similar structures in earthquake-prone areas
in California as well, said Mr. Moehle, the Berkeley engineer: Japan’s
building code allows for roughly half as much sway back and forth at the top
of a high rise during a major quake.
The difference, Mr. Moehle said, comes about because the United States
standard is focused on preventing collapse, while in Japan — with many more
earthquakes — the goal is to prevent any major damage to the buildings
because of the swaying.
New apartment and office developments in Japan flaunt their seismic
resistance as a marketing technique, a fact that has accelerated the use of
the latest technologies, said Ronald O. Hamburger, a structural engineer in
the civil engineering society and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, a San Francisco
engineering firm.
“You can increase the rents by providing a sort of warranty — ‘If you
locate here you’ll be safe,’ ” Mr. Hamburger said.
Although many older buildings in Japan have been retrofitted with new
bracing since the Kobe quake, there are many rural residences of older
construction that are made of very light wood that would be highly
vulnerable to damage. The fate of many of those residences is still unknown.
Mr. Miyamoto, the Japanese engineer, described a nation in chaos as the
quake also damaged or disabled many elements of the transportation system.
He said that he and his family were on a train near the Ikebukuro station
when the earthquake struck. Writing at 1:30 a.m., he said that “we are
still not far from where the train stopped.”
“Japan Railway actually closed down the stations and sent out all commuters
into the cold night,” he said. “They announced that they are concerned
about structural safety. Continuous aftershocks make me feel like car
sickness as my family and I walk on the train tracks.”
James Glanz reported from New York, and Norimitsu Onishi from Jakarta,
Indonesia. | t*******h 发帖数: 2882 | 2 中国的抗震规范在九十年代也提高了,所以新盖的房子也是比较安全的。基本的要求是
小震不坏,大震不倒。 | s****r 发帖数: 31686 | 3 大家都知道这是美丽的谎言, 你懂得
【在 t*******h 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 中国的抗震规范在九十年代也提高了,所以新盖的房子也是比较安全的。基本的要求是 : 小震不坏,大震不倒。
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 4 北京的高楼大厦据说是有的
但是其他地区的,包括农村,估计没有什么高标准吧
【在 t*******h 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 中国的抗震规范在九十年代也提高了,所以新盖的房子也是比较安全的。基本的要求是 : 小震不坏,大震不倒。
| m**********n 发帖数: 27535 | | r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 6 农村地区除了现在搞城市化有政府建的居民小区,大部分住房是自己建的……
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 北京的高楼大厦据说是有的 : 但是其他地区的,包括农村,估计没有什么高标准吧
| l****u 发帖数: 4594 | 7 8级烈度也说明不了太多问题;
不过,日本建筑的抗震水平确实很高,这是国情决定的,一个是地震多,一个是比较富
裕;缺哪一个都不行;
giant
routine
in
that
【在 b**********n 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives : By JAMES GLANZ and NORIMITSU ONISHI : Hidden inside the skeletons of high-rise towers, extra steel bracing, giant : rubber pads and embedded hydraulic shock absorbers make modern Japanese : buildings among the sturdiest in the world during a major earthquake. And : all along the Japanese coast, tsunami warning signs, towering seawalls and : well-marked escape routes offer some protection from walls of water. : These precautions, along with earthquake and tsunami drills that are routine : for every Japanese citizen, show why Japan is the best-prepared country in : the world for the twin disasters of earthquake and tsunami — practices that
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 8 是啊,自建的估计没有考虑太多的抗震啥的吧?
【在 r******y 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 农村地区除了现在搞城市化有政府建的居民小区,大部分住房是自己建的……
| t*******h 发帖数: 2882 | 9 农村私人盖的民房好像大多没有质监部门验收,所以不符合国家规范
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 北京的高楼大厦据说是有的 : 但是其他地区的,包括农村,估计没有什么高标准吧
| l****u 发帖数: 4594 | 10 一个是地震还不够多,令另外也缺钱;
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 是啊,自建的估计没有考虑太多的抗震啥的吧?
| | | r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 11 如果是地震多发区应该还是有相应的考量吧,但能做到多科学可能就比较难说,而且用
料这些的也要看预算了。
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 是啊,自建的估计没有考虑太多的抗震啥的吧?
| l****u 发帖数: 4594 | 12 最近,似乎有政策要出台,农村自建房也要纳入国家建筑标准了,符合标准才能开工;
【在 t*******h 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 农村私人盖的民房好像大多没有质监部门验收,所以不符合国家规范
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 13 那当然了,如果都找专业的设计师,估计设计费都得好几万
外加各种材料
地震如果不多,设计那么高档,可能确实有点浪费
不过学校和医院可以修得牢固点
【在 l****u 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 一个是地震还不够多,令另外也缺钱;
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 14 这个挺好的
【在 l****u 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 最近,似乎有政策要出台,农村自建房也要纳入国家建筑标准了,符合标准才能开工;
| r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 15 希望能严格执行才好,也需要地方上多做细致工作,跟老百姓讲清楚这个道理。
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 这个挺好的
| l****u 发帖数: 4594 | 16 可以由政府提供统一设计方案;但是要是符合一定抗震等级,材料费用肯定增加,说不
定还需要有资质的建筑工人,这样一来成本肯定提高了;
地震多发带,普遍穷,国家可以补贴一点来搞这个政策;
至于公共建筑,肯定要国家垫付一部分,靠当地财政,恐怕够呛;
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 那当然了,如果都找专业的设计师,估计设计费都得好几万 : 外加各种材料 : 地震如果不多,设计那么高档,可能确实有点浪费 : 不过学校和医院可以修得牢固点
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 17 但是如果涉及到费用,恐怕也挺麻烦的
不过谁也不是天天要盖房子
【在 r******y 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 希望能严格执行才好,也需要地方上多做细致工作,跟老百姓讲清楚这个道理。
| y***i 发帖数: 11639 | 18 日本在环太平洋地震带上,建房抗震是有收益的,所以也是必然的。中国地震频率比日
本低好几个数量级,防震提高上去绝大部分就是简单的白扔钱。没必要跟着普西瞎起哄。
【在 r******y 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 希望能严格执行才好,也需要地方上多做细致工作,跟老百姓讲清楚这个道理。
| r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 19 所以我才说执行上可能会有困难,比方说人家要是等着新房子娶儿媳妇呢?没准就会想
些弯弯绕的法子。
【在 l**m 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 但是如果涉及到费用,恐怕也挺麻烦的 : 不过谁也不是天天要盖房子
| l**m 发帖数: 5113 | 20 但是我个人感觉国人对统一设计方案可能不感兴趣啊
自己加个阳台,搭个亭子什么的
君不见城里人住楼房还有敲掉承重墙的么?。。。
【在 l****u 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 可以由政府提供统一设计方案;但是要是符合一定抗震等级,材料费用肯定增加,说不 : 定还需要有资质的建筑工人,这样一来成本肯定提高了; : 地震多发带,普遍穷,国家可以补贴一点来搞这个政策; : 至于公共建筑,肯定要国家垫付一部分,靠当地财政,恐怕够呛;
| | | r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 21 这个我国在各地的抗震标准是不一样的。
【在 y***i 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 日本在环太平洋地震带上,建房抗震是有收益的,所以也是必然的。中国地震频率比日 : 本低好几个数量级,防震提高上去绝大部分就是简单的白扔钱。没必要跟着普西瞎起哄。
| b**********n 发帖数: 2812 | 22 我国的建筑安全标准是非常低的,大部分城市为6度设防,实践中大部分开发商偷工减
料,用钢量基本都在指标下限,导致我国建筑的抗震度和寿命都很差
【在 r******y 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 这个我国在各地的抗震标准是不一样的。
| r******y 发帖数: 9892 | 23 6度设防本身没什么大问题吧?中国大部分城市并不在地震带上。
【在 b**********n 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 我国的建筑安全标准是非常低的,大部分城市为6度设防,实践中大部分开发商偷工减 : 料,用钢量基本都在指标下限,导致我国建筑的抗震度和寿命都很差
| s****r 发帖数: 31686 | 24 属实
不过大家完全可以怀有美好的愿望, 希望下一次地震灾区人民好运!
【在 b**********n 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 我国的建筑安全标准是非常低的,大部分城市为6度设防,实践中大部分开发商偷工减 : 料,用钢量基本都在指标下限,导致我国建筑的抗震度和寿命都很差
| u**********l 发帖数: 2036 | 25 对日本盛赞之余,还没忘记臭中国一下。
拿民主海地的首都跟中国西部落后农村相提并论,太抬举天朝了,MD | D********y 发帖数: 4948 | 26
不是什么谎言吧。
成都当时一栋楼都没有倒。
成都离震中直线距离 不到60公里
【在 s****r 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 大家都知道这是美丽的谎言, 你懂得
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