RAPID: Geotechnical Engineering Reconnaissance of the March 11, 2011, Tohoku Earthquake, Japan

这项快速反应研究补助金(RAPID)奖用于与日本同事一起进行实地勘察，重点是捕获易腐烂的数据，记录高价值的案例历史，并协助2011年3月11日东北9级地震的关键地点的岩土工程鉴定，这是有记录以来最大的地震之一。它是在太平洋板块和北美板块之间的俯冲带界面板块边界上或附近的逆冲断层作用的结果。地震之后发生了海啸，造成了巨大的破坏和生命损失。侦察小组将通过岩土极端事件侦察协会(GEER)进行协调，并将与美国和日本的其他组织的小组密切合作。这次Mw=9.0级地震和随之而来的海啸造成的破坏为美国太平洋西北部和西海岸提供了一些重要的教训。来自日本台网的丰富的强震数据使以往任何俯冲带事件的数据相形见绌，为研究地面运动特征以及超长持续时间震动对地面破坏和局部场地反应模式的影响提供了无数机会。受影响的城市地区提供了一个机会来检查民用基础设施各部分的性能，包括地下结构、公用设施和生命线在地面大变形地区的性能；沿不同主要河流的堤防系统的性能；天然斜坡、堤坝填充物和大坝的性能；改良地面的性能；以及沿海岸线的构造抬升和俯冲。这场史无前例的海啸也提供了收集关于其对各种结构和桥墩的侵蚀能力的数据的机会。记录并从设计级地震后的观测中学习，对于推动地震工程的最新技术和实践是非常宝贵的。建筑物和基础设施的性能和损坏模式、地面破坏的分布、横向扩展和地震引起的斜坡位移、与构造有关的地面运动等，提供了宝贵的信息，将作为该专业了解地震影响的基准。这次Mw=9.0的大地震代表了太平洋西北部的一次重要地震情景，因此，确实需要记录它的岩土影响。此外，Geer团队包括处于职业生涯早期的研究人员，他们帮助发展地震工程方面的能力，并允许他们在日本建立研究联系。

This Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) award funds field reconnaissance with Japanese colleagues that will focus on capturing perishable data, documenting high-value case histories, and assisting in geotechnical characterization at key sites in regards to the March 11, 2011, Mw = 9 Tohoku Earthquake which ranks as one of the largest in recorded history. It occurred as a result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami that caused tremendous damage and loss of life. The reconnaissance team will be coordinated through the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association and will be working closely with teams from other organizations in the US and Japan. The damage caused by this Mw = 9.0 event and the subsequent tsunami provides a number of important lessons for the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast of the United States. The wealth of strong motion data from the Japanese networks dwarfs those from any of the previous subduction zone events, providing numerous opportunities for studying the ground motion characteristics and the effects of very long-duration shaking on ground failure and local site response patterns. The affected urban areas provide an opportunity to examine the performance of various parts of civil infrastructure including the performance of underground structures, utilities and lifelines in areas of extensive ground deformations; the performance of levee systems along the different major rivers; the performance of natural slopes, embankment fills, and dams; the performance of improved ground; and tectonic uplift and subduction along the coastline. The historically unprecedented tsunami also provides opportunity to collect data on its erosive power with respect to variety of structures and bridge piers in particular.Documenting and learning from observations after design level earthquakes are invaluable to advancing the state-of-art and practice in earthquake engineering. Building and infrastructure performance and damage patterns, the distribution of ground failure, cases of lateral spreading and seismically induced slope displacements, ground movements associated with tectonics, among others, provide invaluable information that will serve as benchmarks to the profession's understanding of the effects of earthquakes. This megathrust Mw = 9.0 event represents an important earthquake scenario in the Pacific Northwest, and thus, there is a real need to document its geotechnical effects. Moreover, the GEER team includes researchers who are in the early part of their careers to help develop their capabilities in earthquake engineering and allow them to establish research contacts in Japan.