LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE KOBE EARTHQUAKE - A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

This report presents an overview of the performance of reinforced and precast, prestressed concrete buildings during the Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake (also known as the Great Hanshin earthquake) of January 17, 1995, situated in and around the city of Kobe, Japan. The performance of pile foundations is also examined. Highway bridges, rapid transit structures, and other special structures are covered elsewhere. The assessment of damage is related to the evolution of design code provisions for concrete building structures in Japan. Preliminary reports indicate that precast, prestressed concrete structures performed remarkably well during the earthquake, especially those designed with recent seismic code provisions. The probable causes of the damage are examined, although if should be emphasized that several investigations are currently being carried out to determine more comprehensive causes of structural failures by many researchers, engineers, the Architectural institute of Japan (AIJ), the Japan Prestressed Concrete Engineering Association (JPCEA), and other organizations.