April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks · EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks . References . Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited ...

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

EERI / Chris Poland


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


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


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


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

EERI / Chris Poland EERI / Chris Poland


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.




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


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


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


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


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.


EERI / Chris Poland

EERI / Chris Poland


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


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


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


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.


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




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


EERI / Chris Poland

EERI / Chris Poland

Recommendations: ● Design for robustness. ● Recharge groundwater.


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.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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

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April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks · EERI LFE Briefing for the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Aftershocks . References . Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited ...

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