PRELIMINARY REPORT ON SEISMIC DAMAGE SURVEY OF BRIDGES IN 2024 HUALIEN EARTHQUAKE

Abstract

 This report describes the earthquake damage to a bridge in Hualien, Taiwan, that occurred at 7:58 a.m. on April 3, 2024 (local time), based on a field survey conducted by the authors. The authors visited the affected area from June 24 to 26, 2024, about three months after the earthquake. The intensity of the earthquake ground motions observed in Hualien was above Level 1 and below Level 2 earthquake ground motions as defined in the Japanese Specification for Highway Bridges. The earthquake damage observed on bridges in Hualien included collisions between main girders and displacement limiting devices, failure of wall rails, and the occurrence of steps due to settlement of the soil behind the abutments. In New Taipei City, about 1 km from the epicenter, the misaligned displacement of a steel box girder of an MRT viaduct was observed.