Applied Technology Council A Nonprofit Corporation Advancing Engineering Applications for Hazard Mitigation California - Washington, DC Area

NEWS RELEASE September 13, 2001

For More Information, Contact: A. Gerald Brady, 650/595-1542 E-mail: gbrady@atcouncil.org

ATC Announces Availability of ATC-38 Report: Database on the Performance of Structures Near Strong-Motion Recordings: 1994 Northridge, California, Earthquake

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the ATC-38 Report, Database on the Performance of Structures Near Strong-Motion Recordings: 1994 Northridge, California, Earthquake. This 260-page report documents the results from a detailed survey of 530 buildings in the vicinity (that is, within 1000 feet) of strong-motion recording sites following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The survey was conducted by teams of licensed civil and structural engineers, with the objective of obtaining data to correlate recorded ground shaking, the observed performance of buildings (both damaged and non-damaged), and key structural characteristics, such as design date, structural framing type, and number of stories. Such correlations can be used to: (1) develop improved relationships between ground motion and structural performance; (2) calibrate and improve the characterization of ground shaking in seismic loading criteria for the design of new structures and the rehabilitation or retrofit of existing structures; and (3) improve existing ground-shaking intensity scales.

The ATC-38 report contains:

• descriptions of the data collection process, including copies of the survey forms and the instructions to surveyors;
• descriptions of the data archival process, including (1) the development of a relational database management system, (2) standardization, correction, and verification of survey information, and (3) the structure and format of the database tables;
• summaries of the archived data and results of some simple analyses of the correlations between observed performance and recorded strong ground motion for post-1939 wood-frame construction (the building class with the largest sample in the database);
• conclusions and recommendations;
• a summary of descriptions of the recording stations, and plots of the acceleration-time histories and acceleration response spectra;
• information on a follow-up survey of repair costs and loss-of-use data; and
• a CD-ROM containing all of the survey information, including data on performance and structural characteristics, building photographs, and digitized strong-motion data.

The project was sponsored by the U. S. Geological Survey, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the California Office of Emergency Services, and the Institute for Business and Home Safety.

Copies of the ATC-38 report, including the CD-ROM, can be obtained from the Applied Technology Council, 555 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 550, Redwood City, California 94065 (phone, 650/595-1542; fax, 650/593-2320; e-mail, atc@atcouncil.org; web site, www.atcouncil.org). Check online store for price and shipping costs.

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