Day 3 Report on Chile Earthquake
David Gonzalez and James Liu finally arrived on Tuesday morning. We were anxiously waiting for their arrival to head south to the epicenter. We gave them time for a quick shower and breakfast before we hit the road. Our plan is to go to Talca (about 250km from Santiago) and 100km due west from the epicenter. We had heard there was significant damage in Talca and was also a convenient halfway point to Concepcion. We first head to the Enea area of Santiago, which is the industrial area just south of the airport where we had seen a lot of damage the day before. We wanted to give David and James a quick flavor so they could feel they hit the ground running before the long drive.
Bldg ID 3-8.5 Precast Concrete Warehouse (33⁰ 25′ 57″, 70⁰ 46′ 40″) Trial Clothing Warehouse
This is the same warehouse Roger & Anuj visited yesterday. We took a closer look at the wall panels, all stacked neatly on the ground. We noticed the wall panels were approximately 9″ thick with approx. 4″ of Styrofoam in the middle, except at the edges which had a 9″ flush pilaster element with 4 bars. Nice way to reduce weight, the wall spans horizontally to the edges and then up &down at the edge pilasters. Our conclusion is that this building has no real lateral system. The precast beam column connections are gravity only. The wall panels had no shear transfer mechanism. Possibly some cantilevered action in the columns may have saved the building.
Bldg ID 3-9.1 Confined Masonry Warehouse, Ceva (33⁰ 25′ 39″, 70⁰ 46′ 28″)
This is a confined masonry structure. We had seen parapet collapse on the back and front and wanted to get a closer look. After much negotiation with the owner/supervisor and turning down a request for a report, we were let into the building. The warehouse was not in use but still had empty racks that were tied together, braced and bolted and did not move an inch. The walls are 40 ft tall with 16″x 40″ concrete pilasters at 16 feet on center. Smaller concrete beams run horizontally between the pilasters at every 8 ft up. URM brick fills in the space between the concrete members. Long steel trusses spanned from pilaster to pilaster across the width of the building. They had a bearing seat on the pilaster and looked like 4 long bolts thru a base plate into the pilaster. Smaller trusses supported the front and back walls but not at the pilasters, rather in between. They had a end plate with bolts into a small concrete element in the walls. These bolts were short and had pulled out separating the wall from the roof leading to collapse. The rest of the system held together fairly well. The roof diaphragm had cross bracing comprised of double angles. Most of it held up well except some distress in a couple of spots. Every single light fell down.
Bldg ID 3-9.2 Curico Hospital (34⁰ 59′ 24″, 71⁰ 14′ 09″)
We had been wanting to see a hospital and finally we found one. The only hospital in a town of 100,000 and shut down after the earthquake. We could see a concrete frame structure with brick infill, 4 story tall, rectangular shape with center courtyard opening. The hospital had been moved into an adjacent newer clinic building. We were allowed to go in and greeted by the hospital director. We sat in his office and talked for about 15 minutes. Roger turned on his charm but the director seemed only too glad to see us. However, he said that the hospital had been evacuated and closed off by the military. The military had a field hospital set up in an empty lot next door and we were granted an audience with a 3 star lady lieutenant. After more sweet talking we were provided a sergeant escort to take us inside the hospital.The outside certainly showed damage but the inside was another story. A complete disaster. A number of the concrete columns had shear failure to the point that all the concrete had spalled off. They were 24 in x 24 in with 16 #8 bars and #3 ties w/ 90 degree hooks at 8″ oc, that opened up. Not bad compared to what else we had seen before but not enough. The concrete aggregate was large and river rock, not ideal. The stairs were near collapse, debris blocked egress paths and all the patient rooms and pre and post op rooms were completely trashed. The cabinet contents were all on the floors. We were taken up to the 4th floor which had the op rooms. The gas columns were still there, but the surgery lights had been removed. Although we could not see above the ceilings, we could see the ceiling suspension plates similar to what we would spec. Lights in the egress path appear to be intact. In an adjacent room the exam lights were still there and did not show signs of damage. Obviously someone paid attention to this aspect. There were also broken fire lines and water damage in some areas. Due to the amount of damage to the hospital structure we did not make a trip to the roof to observe the conditions of the MEP units. The vertical LOX tank outside at the ground level appeared to be anchored adequately. We were told that it was a 200 bed hospital built in the 1970’s that sustained some damage in 1985 which was patched up. The Univ of Chile had done a study indicating that the hospital was at high risk of significant seismic damage. The director told us that they were planning a replacement hospital but had not gotten it started yet. They have been promised a temporary 200 bed hospital by the govt. of Chile in 6 months to provide badly needed services to this town. As we had walked through the clinic first floor earlier, we could see that they had beds set up and every bed was taken. Apparently, nobody died or got seriously injured, the 40 critical patients were moved next door to the clinic and have since gotten another 60 patients from earthquake related injuries.
Bldg ID 3-9.3 Plaza de Armas in Curico(34⁰ 59′ 06″, 71⁰ 14′ 20″)
The plaza contained several different buildings closely spaced together, some with significant historic facades. Most of the façade elements were adobe and URM, tied back to the structure and had dramatic failures. A church built in 1743, was damaged previously, subsequently repaired and now damaged again. The tower portion was damaged and numerous cracks appeared throughout the structure. Brick elements peeled away from the structure and fell to the ground. The entire plaza had been barricaded off.
Bldg ID 3-9.4 Rio Claro Bridge structure(35⁰ 20′ 33″, 71⁰ 34′ 26″)
On our drive down to Talca, we noted many bridge structures with damage to the abutments. Most were still in operation. However, there was one with a dramatic collapse. The construction of this specific bridge appear to be a masonry arch structure.
We arrived in Talca late in the day, almost a 5 hour drive. Tonight we are staying at a bed and breakfast outside town and owned and operated by a migrated Austrian Family. They tell us that the new hospital in Talca (built a couple of years ago), had a major collapse and is going to be demolished. We hope to visit the hospital tomorrow morning. For now, as they say in Chilean, Ciao Ciao or Chao Chao (Bye Bye).
