Assessment on Seismic Retrofitting of Buildings in Earthquake Fires and Initial Fire-fighting Activities

Abstract

The fires following the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake brought considerable damages. Some papers pointed out that building collapse partly contributed to devastating disaster especially at the initial stage of fires. If building damages had been less serious, residents would have participated in fire-fighting more. Thus, we focused on the relationship between building damage and fire disaster, and this study proposed the assessment methods how seismic retrofitting could improve fire fighting conditions by residents' at the initial stage of fires.