Simulation of Building Damage during the 2011 Northern Nagano Earthquake by using Distinct Element Method

Abstract

For the purpose of assuring the route for the emergency evacuation and for the traffic of the emergency vehicle, the simulation method of the building damage using the distinct element method(DEM) has been developed that is highly precise, simple and convenient. This article reports the result that simulates the building damage in the 2011 Northern Nagano earthquake. The damage rate simulated by DEM is compared with the grade of each damaged wooden structure visually surveyed in Sakae-mura village, Nagano prefecture. As a result, though the damage rates by DEM distribute relatively wide in the low grade of damage by survey, the damage by DEM and by survey have generally corresponding relations.