A Thornton Tomasetti team of engineers, architects and risk assessment specialists has mobilized in Chile, to assist clients in evaluating property damage resulting from the February 27 earthquake that measured 8.8 on the Richter scale.

“The scope and degree of damage we are seeing is quite sobering,” said Mark Ellis, Thornton Tomasetti vice president, who arrived in Santiago March 7. “However, given the size and type of earthquake it is fortunate that there were relatively few fatalities.”

So far, our team has been focused on the Santiago area, where many services have been restored. Many buildings, however, bear scars of the earthquake in their interior walls and other nonstructural components. There are also some pockets of severe structural damage within the city. Aftershocks have been common. A magnitude 6.9 event on Thursday is being characterized as a separate but related earthquake rather than an aftershock.

The south area around Concepción has more extensive damage than Santiago, however it is only in the last few days that damage assessments have begun there. Prior to that the focus has been on emergency response, and providing food and water to the people.

There will be many lessons that the worldwide engineering community will learn from this event. Unlike the last major Chilean earthquake, in 1985, the recent earthquake was a subduction zone event, which creates lower frequency but wider ranging ground motions. This affects high-rise buildings more than low rise. And it is the type of event that could affect the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.

Chilean seismic codes and engineering practices are among the best in the world. However, over the last decade the designs have become more aggressive, with an effort to minimize the construction cost. “When everything gets done right in construction the buildings perform well,” Ellis said. “However, these very efficient designs leave little margin for error.”

Thornton Tomasetti’s team in Chile can be contacted on ChileEarthquakeResponseTeam@ThorntonTomasetti.com or by contacting Mark Ellis (949.910.2886) or Charles Meade (917.583.2137).

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering services to clients worldwide on buildings of all sizes and complexity. From the tallest buildings and the longest spans, to innovative building systems and materials, the firm is committed to creating the best solutions through its technical ingenuity, pursuit of excellence, and responsiveness to client needs. Our work is in three practice areas: Building Structures, Building Skin and Building Performance. Founded in 1956 as Lev Zetlin & Associates, today Thornton Tomasetti is a 550-person organization of engineers and architects collaborating from offices across the United States and in Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, and the Middle East.

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