Abstract
The relationship between the damage of expressways caused in the 2004 Niigataken-Chuetsu earthquake and the seismic intensity was evaluated. The areas where the expressway suffered from many damages were subjected to severe ground motion whose JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) seismic intensity was larger than 6.0. The major and minor damages of expressways can be detected using aerial photographs. It is also possible to detect some minor damages using high resolution satellite images, e.g., QuickBird and IKONOS. The remote sensing technology is expected to contribute to early damage detection just after the occurrence of a large earthquake.
