RAPID: Effects of the January 2010 Haitian Earthquake on Selected Electrical Equipment

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This RAPID award will study the effects of the magnitude 7.0 January 12, 2010, Haitian earthquake on electrical equipment. Electrical equipment, such as switchgear, motor control centers, and small transformers, are vulnerable to damage from seismic ground motion if not properly designed, constructed, and installed. This equipment, which typically plays a critical role in post-earthquake response and recovery, is often comprised of internal components that may be damaged when subjected to strong accelerations. In addition, the electrical units as a whole are often not adequately restrained and/or anchored, which can lead to significant damage due to overturning and/or translation of the units. Performance of such critical electrical equipment, located in the Port-au-Prince region, which were subjected to strong ground motion during the Haitian earthquake will be investigated. The research effort will begin with field surveys during April 2010 of both damaged and undamaged electrical equipment at up to ten sites that have been identified in the Port-au-Prince region. Both internal and external equipment damage states will be cataloged. Data collection and reduction efforts will include: (1) regional mapping of the facilities visited and the types of electrical equipment damage found at the facilities; (2) correlating the location of the equipment (both damaged and undamaged) with the available U.S. Geological Survey Shakemap data; and (3) quantifying the types of damage states observed during the site visit, the impact of the damage to operability of the equipment, and for equipment damaged beyond repair, the impact of the loss of the specific equipment and related systems. It is critical to gather, catalog, and disseminate highly perishable electrical equipment damage information that can be used by researchers, practitioners, and equipment manufacturers. The gathered data and resulting analysis will be valuable to future earthquake loss estimation studies and to ongoing initiatives such as the ATC-58 effort supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Development of Next-Generation Performance-Based Seismic Design Procedures for New and Existing Buildings. Examining the consequences of failure of selected equipment will also provide information to engineers, urban planners, and social scientists who are concerned with the impact of nonstructural failures on disaster recovery efforts. A report will be produced providing a summary of the damage survey, a description of the damage types, and a summary of the data reduction efforts. Project investigators will present results of the study at a workshop for Haitian earthquake RAPID awards in summer or fall of 2010.