Abstract
A huge earthquake of Mw 9.0 hit the Tohoku district of Japan on March 11, 2011. The earthquake, which was named as "the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake", caused serious damage to industrial facilities. Based on the damage investigations conducted by the JSME, the damage to the mechanical structures were due to the strong ground motion, soil deformation and tsunami. Many kinds of damage caused by strong motion, such as the damage at the base of machines, the failure of pipe supports, buckling of tanks and the failure of hook bolts were commonly observed. Soil deformation caused break of buried pipes and misalignment of gantry crane rails. The tsunami also caused various kinds of damage, such as broken equipment due to collisions with floating objects and damage of tanks due to water pressure. Power system damage caused by electrical short circuiting also occurred. Although the earthquake caused a great deal of damage, seismic measures taken before the earthquake could mitigate damage of some facilities. This paper provides an overview of the damage of industrial facilities caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, their typical damage cases, and the effects of the earthquake resisting methods.
