EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks Resilience and Community Case Studies
Chris D. Poland, Consulting Engineer NIST Disaster Resilience Fellow
Canyon Lake, California
In collaboration with Rachel Davidson, Professor, University of Delaware
Credit: EPA
EERI / Chris Poland EERI / Chris Poland EERI / Chris Poland
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EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
EERI Briefing Series of Videos ● Introduction: Objectives, methodology, unique features, team – Bret Lizundia ● Nepal Earthquake: Geography, demographics, and general damage – Surya Shrestha ● Seismology and Ground Motion – Kishor Jaiswal ● Building Performance Part I: Building type overview, RC frame with masonry infill, and
woodframe – Hemant Kaushik ● Building Performance Part II: URM bearing wall, postearthquake safety evaluation,
barricades/shoring, school retrofits– Bret Lizundia ● Health Facility Performance – Judy Mitrani-Reiser and Hari Kumar ● Social, Psychological and Cultural Factors – Courtney Welton-Mitchell ● Geosciences – Jan Kupec ● Emergency Response – Ganesh Kumar Jimee ● Performance of Cultural Heritage Structures – Suraj Shrestha ● Building Codes – John Bevington ● Lifelines – Rachel Davidson ● Resilience and Community Case Studies – Chris Poland ● Summary of Findings – Bret Lizundia
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Community Resilience A Balancing Act
The ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover more rapidly from disruptions
Utilizing performance based design, work-arounds, and mutual aid
Source: NIST Community Resilience Guide 2015
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Critical Facilities, Emergency Housing and Lifelines
Housing, Neighborhoods, Business Community Economic Recovery
Preparedness, Response and Recovery Routine – Expected – Extreme Events
Villages (Extreme)
Kathmandu (<Expected)
Source: National Disaster Recovery Framework
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Kathmandu Valley
● Less than “Expected” Level of Shaking
● Few communities had emergency response plans.
● Damage was localized; disruption to lifeline systems was short term.
● Most needed work-arounds were already in place.
● Government remained operational. ● NGOs continued to provide
services.
EERI / Chris Poland
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EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Kathmandu Valley
● Demolition of damaged buildings a first order concern.
● Temporary facilities were satisfactory.
● Short-term impact on the agricultural economy
● Schools reopened June 1st with a mandated transition week.
● Many cultural treasures destroyed
● Tourism has not yet returned.
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EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Villages
● Hundreds of villages experienced 80% to 95% damage possibly under “extreme” levels of shaking.
● Few if any local response plans were in place. Response was by improvisation.
● Nepal army and police were the first responders.
● NGO Clusters arrived within a week and were still setting up their recovery programs.
● Many trekking facilities destroyed
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Villages
● Dozens of villages relocated due to landslides - the biggest challenge
● Self built interim shelters now being constructed with government funds
● 70%+ of the roads now cleared ● Water mostly available by tanker truck ● Cell phones operating; land lines down ● Agricultural economy partially affected.
Full recovery is expected in 2-3 years. ● Rebuilding is underway; urban
planning is possible, funding sources are in the PDNA plan
● Remittances continue.
EERI / Rachel Davidson
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Opportunities to Enhance Resilience Using the Built Environment
1. Housing 2. Construction Process 3. Transportation 4. Communication 5. Electricity 6. Critical Facilities 7. Water 8. Wastewater Treatment
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
1. Housing Shelter-in-Place with Safe Egress Observations: • Current intent is life safety. • Owners routinely ignored
the code. • Extreme vulnerability exists. • Safe egress is often not
available. • High sheltering demand
Recommendations: • Upgrade code to shelter in place • Re-plan before the next event for
reconstruction: • Access, open space, egress
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
2. Construction Process Observations: ● Owners often build without
regard for the building code. ● Buildings are routinely expanded
beyond the code limits.
Recommendations: ● Owners need to embrace the
value of building to code. ● Contractors should be trained
and licensed. ● All construction should undergo
plan review and inspections.
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EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
3. Transportation - Roads Observations: ● Damage due to landslides and
ground failure seriously affected access to villages.
● Priority given to clear east-west highway and roads to China
● Well prepared due to monsoon related landslides
● Priority given to new roads over maintenance
Recommendations: ● Provide wider and redundant routes
to villages and lifeline systems.
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
3. Transportation - Airports
Observations: • Airport closed for inspection and to assemble
operating personnel • Reopened 24/7 with army and police help • All civil aviation flights cancelled for two
weeks. All domestic airports open. • Runway capacity limited the weight of
landings; parking limited the number.
Recommendations: • Update plans to increase capacity. • Upgrade runway; provide additional
emergency parking. • Incorporate domestic airports to expand
capacity.
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
4. Communications Observations: • Dual mobile and land line systems –
multiple providers • 25 million cell phones • 80%-90% restored within 2 weeks. • Experienced loss of power and tower
damage • New emergency network under
development
Recommendations: • Retrofit vulnerable towers. • Add redundancy.
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI / Chris Poland
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
5. Electricity
Observations: ● Damage to generation, transmission, and
distribution ● Power restored in 1 to 7 days in Kathmandu
Valley, not fully restored in the villages ● Projects to double capacity in process
EERI / Chris Poland
Source: Nepal Electric Company
Recommendations: ● Design for robustness. ● Add redundancy to transmission
and distribution systems.
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
6. Critical Facilities Build and Retrofit to be Usable
Observations: ● Hospitals, healthcare
facilities ● Emergency operations
centers ● Government facilities ● Police and fire stations Recommendations: ● Determine vulnerabilities. ● Plan for temporary
operations. ● Retrofit/replace as possible
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EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
7. Water Observations: ● Currently 25-40% provided by
KUKL. Balance from wells. Service restored in 1 to 10 days
● Projects to increase to 100% in process
● Depleting the groundwater ● Many villages not restored
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EERI / Chris Poland
Recommendations: ● Design for robustness. ● Recharge groundwater.
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
8. Wastewater Treatment
Observations: ● Most sewage discharged into rivers
or septic systems
Recommendations: ● New network of treatment plants
should remain operational
Source: KUKL 7th Anniversary Annual Report
● Design for robustness.
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Observations Related to Community Resilience in the United States
1. Resilience should begin with saving lives. 2. Emergency access needed to people and critical
facilities. 3. Adopt and enforce proper performance-based
building codes and inspect for compliance. 4. Distributed lifeline systems are naturally more
resilient. 5. Understand community-wide recovery
vulnerabilities, conceptualize work-arounds, and plan for mitigation when possible.
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Community Case Studies to come
● Select a set of communities from a subset of those the team visited based on: ○ Urban vs. rural ○ More/less damage ○ More/less preparedness
● Longitudinal study: Return to selected communities, tentatively, with ○ Housner Fellow visit this year ○ Resilience Observatory visit next year
● Summarize observations and interviews with officials and residents during each visit, with a focus on resilience and the continuum of recovery
● Document in a future report
EERI / Bret Lizundia
EERI / Bret Lizundia
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Community Case Studies
Questions to investigate may include: ● What was the level of pre-earthquake
planning and readiness? ● What happened in the earthquake? ● How did recovery in various sectors
proceed? ● How were decisions made? ● How were resources prioritized? ● Did they accomplish what they wanted? ● Did they have to change direction? ● What is left to do? ● How did the community change? ● What lessons can this provide for others?
EERI / Jan Kupec
EERI / Jan Kupec
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
References
Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) Annual Report, Seventh Anniversary, Kathmandu, 2071 Falgun (Feb-Mar 2015).
Nepal Electricity Authority, Major Power Stations, Transmission Lines and Substations. Drawing received during June 2015 interview.
Nepal Earthquake 2015, Post Disaster Needs Assessment, Executive Summary. Government of Nepal, National planning Commission. June 2015.
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
More Information: Reports, Data & Photos http://www.eqclearinghouse.org/2015-04-25-nepal/
● Visit EERI’s Virtual
Clearinghouse Website for: ○ Geolocated Data Map ○ Photo Gallery ○ Team Report (available in late
summer 2015)
○ Reports from other teams & organizations
○ Curated Topic Posts
● Thanks to my Virtual Team Collaborator, Martha Cuenca, who uploaded my photos to the EERI map
EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks
Acknowledgements
● I would like to thank the following individuals and organizations who supported my reconnaissance effort: ○ National Science Foundation for travel support. ○ EERI’s Learning from Earthquakes Program for logistic support. ○ NSET for coordination, logistics, and linkages to local individuals and
organizations in Nepal. ○ EERI LFE team members for the discussion and intellectual stimulation
during the visit that enhanced my thinking and findings. ● For this presentation on Resilience and Community Case Studies advice was
graciously provided by: ○ Rachel Davidson, co-team member during on site information gathering ○ Rob Olshansky and Laurie Johnson, EERI Resilience Observatory Project
leads