Full-scale seismic retrofit of old and deteriorated masonry buildings requires a lot of cost and time. In such buildings, installing an emergency evacuation space can be considered as an alternative. In this study, requirements of the earthquake-proof table used as an emergency evacuation space for buildings hit by earthquake are investigated. Load conditions required for the table, including the impact effects due to building debris drop, are explained. To investigate the impact effects in more detail, weight drop test is performed for an prototype earthquake-proof table. In the test, the weight of the falling object and free fall height were considered as the main test parameters. The results showed that the duration of impact is very short (0.0226~0.0779sec), and thus the impact forces increase to 15.8~45.2 times the weight of the falling object. Based on these results, design considerations and performance verification criteria of the earthquake-proof table as an emergency evacuation space are given.

The objective of this study is to investigate the response reducing effect of a seismic isolation system installed between 300m dome and supports under both horizontal and vertical seismic ground motion. The time history analysis is performed to investigate the dynamic behavior of single layer lattice domes with and without a lead rubber bearing seismic isolation system. In order to ensure the seismic performance of lattice domes against strong earthquakes, it is important to investigate the mechanical characteristics of dynamic response. Horizontal and vertical seismic ground motions cause a large asymmetric vertical response of large span domes. One of the most effective methods to reduce the dynamic response is to install a seismic isolation system for observing seismic ground motion at the base of the dome. This paper discusses the dynamic response characteristics of 300m single layer lattice domes supported on a lead rubber seismic isolation device under horizontal and vertical seismic ground motions.

An earthquake of ML 5.8 hit the Gyeongju area on September 12, 2016. A sequence of foreshock-mainshockaftershock of 588 events with equal to or greater than magnitude 1.5 occurred for six months in this area. Around ninetynine percentage (98.8%) of the total energy was released intensively within a day, and about 80% of the total events took place within a month after the Gyeongju earthquake. The epicentral distribution of aftershocks of major events (ML 5.1, 5.8, 4.5, and 3.5) were elongated in the direction of N30 o E. They correlate well with the focal mechanism solution. These facts support the inference that the Gyeongju earthquakes occurred on a sub-parallel subsidiary fault of the Yangsan fault zone or on the linking damage zones between Deokcheon and Yangsan fault. During the last six years before the Gyeongju earthquake, there were few events within 10-km radius from the epicenter. This seismic gap area was filled with a sequence of the Gyeongju earthquakes. The b value for aftershock of the Gyeongju earthquakes is 1.09.

This study examines earthquake-induced sloshing effects on liquid storage tanks using computation fluid dynamics. To achieve this goal, this study selects an existing square steel tank tested by Seismic Simulation Test Center at Pusan National University as a case study. The model validation was firstly performed through the comparison of shaking table test data and simulated results for the water tank subjected to a harmonic excitation. For a realistic estimation of the wall pressure response of the water tank, three recorded earthquakes with similar peak ground acceleration are applied:1940 El Centro earthquake, 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, and 2017 Pohang earthquake. Wall pressures monitored during the dynamic analyses are examined and compared for different earthquake motions and monitoring points, using power spectrum density. Finally, the maximum dynamic pressure for three earthquakes is compared with the design pressure calculated from a seismic design code. Results indicated that the maximum pressure from the El Centro earthquake exceeds the design pressure although its peak ground acceleration is less than 0.4 g, which is the design acceleration. On the other hand, the maximum pressure due to two Korean earthquakes does not reach the design pressure. Thus, engineers should not consider only the peak ground acceleration when determining the design pressure of water tanks.

The The purpose of this study is to investigate the actual liquefaction occurrence site in Pohang area and to analyze the ground characteristics of Pohang area using the data of the National Geotechnical Information DB Center and to calculate the liquefaction potential index. Based on the results, the distribution of soil classification in Pohang area and the risk of liquefaction under various earthquake accelerations were prepared. As a result of the study, soils in Pohang has the soil characteristics that can cause the site amplification phenomenon. In the analysis through liquefaction hazard maps under earthquake scenarios, it is found that the liquefaction occurred in the area of Heunghae town is more likely to be liquefied than other areas in Pohang. From these results, it is expected that the study on the preparation of liquefaction hazard maps will contribute to the preparation of countermeasures against liquefaction by predicting the possibility in the future.

The Pohang earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred on November 15, 2018. The epicenter of this earthquake located in south-east region of the Korean peninsula. Since instrumental recording for earthquake ground motions started in Korea, this earthquake caused the largest economic and life losses among past earthquakes. Korea is located in low-to moderate seismic region, so that strong motion records are very limited. Therefore, ground motions recorded during the Pohang earthquake could have valuable geological and seismological information, which are important inputs for seismic design. In this study, ground motions associated by the 2018 Pohang earthquake are generated using the point source model considering domestic geological parameters (magnitude, hypocentral distance, distancefrequency dependent decay parameter, stress drop) and site amplification calculated from ground motion data at each stations. A contour map for peak ground acceleration is constructed for ground motions generated by the Pohang earthquake using the proposed model.

This study aims to create a disaster management system after an earthquake. Japan’s earthquake disaster management system, including the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, addresses all of the disaster phases of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and emergency response as well as recovery and reconstruction with roles and responsibilities among the national and local governments clearly defined. Korea’s earthquake disaster management system are including the Disaster Countermeasures Basic, but when the 9.12 earthquake occurred, problems such as insufficient early response, study on the earthquake lack were revealed. This study conducted a field survey and analyzed coping process after Po Hang earthquake. Therefore, this study have found that Disaster Management Headquarters are operated rapidly. They are coped with urgent safety inspection for damage facilities and soil liquefaction with advanced equipment. And The headquarters interviewed with victims. So they found out What the victims needed. However, when carrying out relief activities, Research of temporary housing and allocation of donations was not rapid. Further, this study have found that earthquake specialists were lack and disaster information transfer was not working. This study will be utilized as fundamental data in planning disaster management system after an earthquake.

Post-earthquake risk assessment technique in Korea is developed in 2013 by National Disaster Management Research Institute, at the same time, related manual and standard regulation is distributed to every local government by National Emergency Management Agency. The objectives of this research are to investigate and evaluate the post-earthquake risk assessment of 9.12 Earthquake (M5.8, Gyeongju City, 2016) and 11.15 Earthquake (M5.4, Pohang City, 2017). To suggest and improve the assessment process of post-earthquake risk, first post-earthquake risk assessment method of advanced foreign countries including US, New Zealand and Japan are compared, and post-earthquake evaluation activities in 9.12 Earthquake and 11.15 Earthquake are analyzed. From the results, it is needed to expand the adapted building and structure types and strengthen the earthquake disaster response capacity of local government.

A total of 594 reservoirs (17%), which are managed by KRC, equipped with earthquake-resistant facilities whereas remaining ones did not. In addition, reservoirs were placed without the effect of geological structures (i.e., fault and lineament). Therefore, development on technique for alleviating the potential hazards by natural disasters along faults and lineaments has required. In addition, an effective reinforcement guideline related to the geological vulnerabilities around reservoirs has required. The final goal of this study is to suggest the effective maintenance for the safety of earth fill dams. A radius 2 km, based on the center of the reservoir in the study area was set as the range of vulnerability impacts of each reservoir. Seismic design, precise safety diagnosis, seismic influence and geological structure were analyzed for the influence range of each reservoir. To classify the vulnerability of geological disasters according to the fault distribution around the reservoir, evaluation index of seismic performance, precise safety diagnosis, seismic influence and geological structure were also developed for each reservoir, which were a component of the vulnerability assessment of geological disasters. As a result, the reservoir with the highest vulnerability to geological disasters in the pilot district was analyzed as Kidong reservoir with an evaluation index of 0.364. Within the radius of 100km from the epicenter of the Pohang earthquake, the number of agricultural infrastructure facilities subject to urgent inspections were 1,180 including reservoirs, pumping stations and intakes. Four reservoirs were directly damaged by earthquake among 724 agricultural reservoirs. As a result of the precise inspection and electrical resistivity survey of the reservoir after the earthquake, it was reported that cracks on the crest of reservoirs were not a cause of concern. However, we are constantly monitoring the safety of agricultural facilities by Pohang aftershocks.

Pohang earthquake occurred on November 15, 2017, with a magnitude of 5.4. The damage of the structure caused by the Pohang earthquake was the most significant in 4-story piloti-type buildings, where the damage patterns were different according to the location of columns and walls at the first story. One　building with a staircase at a corner shows shear failure at columns, and Another building with a staircase in the middle shows no failure or shear failure at staircase walls. Therefore, two different piloti-type buildings were selected; one has a staircase at a corner and another has in the middle, and the seismic behavior of the buildings were examined by nonlinear dynamic analysis applying a ground motion measured at Pohang. Analytical model well simulated the actual behavior of the piloti-type buildings during the earthquake. Analysis results showed that walls have an insufficient shear strength wherever the location of the staircase is and columns with insufficient transverse reinforcement could be failed when the staircase is located at a corner. Conclusively, structural engineers should design columns and walls in piloti-type buildings to possess sufficient capacity according to the location of staircase.

In the present study, effective hydrodynamic pressure modeling methods for three-dimensional earthquake safety analysis of a dam intake tower structure are investigated. Time history analysis results using the Westergaard added mass and Chopra added mass methods are compared with the one by the CASI (Coupled Acoustic Structural Interaction) method, which is accepted as giving almost exact solutions, to evaluate the difference in displacement response, stress and dynamic eccentricity. The 3D time history analysis of a realistic intake tower, which has the standard geometry widely used in Korea, shows that the Chopra added mass method gives similar results in displacement and stress and less conservative results in dynamic eccentricity to CASI ones, while the Westergaard added mass yields much more conservative results in all measures. This study suggests to use the CASI method directly for three-dimensional earthquake safety analysis of a dam intake tower, if computationally possible.

On November 15, 2017, Pohang earthquake occurred. Its local magnitude was announced to be ML=5.4 by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Ground motion data recorded at KMA stations were obtained from their data bases. From the data, horizontal and vertical response spectra, and V/H ratio were calculated. The horizontal spectra were defined as GMRotI50 spectra. From the statistical analysis of the GMRotI50 spectra, a mean plus one standard deviation spectrum in lognormal distribution is obtained. Regression analysis is performed on this curve to determine the shape of spectrum including transition periods. Applying the same procedure, the shape and transition periods of vertical spectrum were obtained. These results were compared with the Korean standard design spectra, which were developed from domestic and overseas intra-plate earthquake records, and Gyeongju earthquake response spectra. The response spectra of Pohang earthquake were found to be almost identical with the newly proposed design spectra. Even the V/H ratios showed good agreement. These results confirmed that the method adopted when developing the standard design spectra were valid and the developed design spectra were reliable.

Severe earthquakes can cause damage to society both socially and economically. An appropriate initial response can alleviate damage from severe earthquakes. In order to formulate an appropriate initial response, it is necessary to identify damage situations in societies; however, it is difficult to grasp this information immediately after an earthquake event. In this study, an earthquake damage assessment methodology for buildings is proposed for estimating damage situations immediately after severe earthquakes. A response spectrum database is constructed to provide response spectra at arbitrary locations from earthquake measurements immediately after the event. The fragility curves are used to estimate the damage of the buildings. Earthquake damage assessment is performed from the response spectrum database at the building scale to provide enhanced damage condition information. Earthquake damage assessment for Gyeongju city and Pohang city were conducted using the proposed methodology, when an earthquake occurred on September 12, 2016, and November 15, 2017. Results confirm that the proposed earthquake damage assessment effectively represented the earthquake damage situation in the city to decide on an appropriate initial response by providing detailed information at the building scale.

The probabilistic seismic safety assessment is one of the methodology to evaluate the seismic safety of the nuclear power plants. The site characteristics of the nuclear power plant should be reflected when evaluating the seismic safety of the nuclear power plant. The Korea seismic characteristics are strong in high frequency region and may be different from NRC Regulatory Guide 1.60, which is the design spectrum of nuclear power plants. In this study, seismic response of a nuclear power plant structure by Pohang earthquake (2017.11.15. (KST)) is investigated. The Pohang earthquake measured at the Cheongsong seismic observation station (CHS) is scaled to the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.2 g and the seismic acceleration time history curve corresponding to the design spectrum is created. A nuclear power plant of the containment building and the auxiliary buildings are modeled using OPENSEES to analyze the seismic response of the Pohang earthquake. The seismic behavior of the nuclear power plant due to the Pohang earthquake is investigated. And the seismic performances of the equipment of a nuclear power plant are evaluated by the HCLPF. As a result, the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear power plants should be evaluated based on site-specific characteristics of nuclear power plants.

This study examines the seismic failure of RC low-rise building structures having irregularities at the ground story during the 15 November 2017 Pohang, Korea, earthquake, Mw = 5.4, which is the second strongest since the government began monitoring them in 1978 in South Korea. Some 2,000 private houses were damaged or destroyed in this earthquake. Particularly, serious damage to the piloti story of RC low-rise residential building structures of fewer than five stories was observed within 3 km of the epicenter with brittle shear failure of columns and walls due to severe torsional behavior. Buildings below six stories constructed before 2005 did not have to comply with seismic design requirements, so confinement detailing of columns and walls also led to inadequate performance. However, some buildings constructed after 2005 were damaged at the flexible side of the piloti story due to the high torsional irregularity. Based on these results, this study focuses on the problems of the seismic torsion design approach in current building codes.

This study develops an empirical prediction equation of spectral acceleration responses of earthquakes which can induce structural damages. Ground motion records representing hazards of low-to-moderate seismic regions were selected and organized with several influential factors affecting the response spectra. The empirical equation and estimator coefficients for acceleration response spectra were then proposed using a robust nonlinear optimization coupled with a regression analysis. For analytical verification of the prediction equation, response spectra used for low-to-moderate seismic regions were estimated and the predicted results were comparatively evaluated with measured response spectra. As a result, the predicted shapes of response spectra can simulate the graphical shapes of measured data with high accuracy and most of predicted results are distributed inside range of correlation of variation (COV) of 30% from perfectly correlated lines.