2001 Volume 110 Issue 6 Pages 876-884
Based on Proceedings of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, JSCE, Earthquake Engineering Symposium, recent trends of research in this field are analyzed statistically. The area attracting the most attention is, for example, earthquake ground motion and soil characteristics. On the whole, most topics presented in recent symposiums we are closely related to serious damage caused by the 1995 Hyogoken-nanbu (Kobe) earthquake. Following the 1995 earthquake, JSCE issued three separete times proposals to improve the earthquake resistance of civil engineering structures, which is summarised here. Among various items covered by the proposals, very strong near-field ground motion, known as Level 2 earthquake motion, needs to be considered in earthquake resistant designs. To take Level 2 earthquake motion into consideration, a performance-based design is a common concept that should be applied to all types of civil engineering structures made with steel, concrete and/or soil.
