Earthquake reconnaissance: Forensic engineering on an urban scale

Abstract

On 30 September 2009, a Richter magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurred approximately 50 km offshore from the Indonesian city of Padang, on the west coast of Sumatra. As part of an AusAID initiative, the authors spent eight days conducting detailed structural assessments of damage to school buildings and medical/hospital buildings in the greater Padang region under the jurisdiction of the Australia--Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR). Approximately 300 school and 100 medical buildings were assessed during this time. The procedure used for this "forensic engineering" task on an urban scale, rather than individual building scale, is described. From the data collected, the authors were able to identify common structural defects, as well as deduce systemic deficiencies in the overall design and construction process for the Padang region, with a summary of these observations presented.