• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.161-168
• /
• 2018

Pohang earthquake occurred on November 15, 2017, with a magnitude of 5.4. The damage of the structure caused by the Pohang earthquake was the most significant in 4-story piloti-type buildings, where the damage patterns were different according to the location of columns and walls at the first story. One building with a staircase at a corner shows shear failure at columns, and Another building with a staircase in the middle shows no failure or shear failure at staircase walls. Therefore, two different piloti-type buildings were selected; one has a staircase at a corner and another has in the middle, and the seismic behavior of the buildings were examined by nonlinear dynamic analysis applying a ground motion measured at Pohang. Analytical model well simulated the actual behavior of the piloti-type buildings during the earthquake. Analysis results showed that walls have an insufficient shear strength wherever the location of the staircase is and columns with insufficient transverse reinforcement could be failed when the staircase is located at a corner. Conclusively, structural engineers should design columns and walls in piloti-type buildings to possess sufficient capacity according to the location of staircase.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.1577-1586
• /
• 2023

Safety qualification of a steam generator is a crucial issue related to faulted condition design loads, including earthquake loads, and it should be ensured that the structural integrity of a steam generator does not exceed its design load. Using data from the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes, the two most powerful recorded seismic events in Korea, seismic analyses of a typical steam generator are conducted in this study. The modal characteristics are used to develop an input deck for these analyses. With a time history analysis, the responses of the steam generator in the event of an earthquake are obtained. In particular, the displacement, velocity, and acceleration responses are obtained in the time domain, with these outcomes then used for a detailed structural analysis as part of the ensuing assessment. The response spectra are also generated to determine the response characteristics in the frequency domain, focusing on the response comparisons between the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes. Structural integrity can be ensured by performing additional analysis using results obtained from the time history analysis considering the input excitations of various earthquakes considered in the design.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.67-75
• /
• 2024

In the case of the Pohang earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.4 in 2017, geotechnical damages such as liquefaction and ground settlement occurred. The need for countermeasures has emerged, and experimental research in the Pohang area has continued. This study collected undisturbed samples from damaged fine-grained soil areas where ground settlement occurred in Pohang. Cyclic tri-axial tests for identifying the dynamic characteristics of soils were performed on the undisturbed samples, and the results were analyzed to determine the cause of ground settlement. As a result of the study, it was determined that in the case of fine-grained soils, ground settlement occurred because the seismic load as an external force was relatively more significant than the shear resistance of the very soft fine-grained soils, rather than due to an increase in excess pore water pressure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.129-137
• /
• 2018

On November 15, 2017, Pohang earthquake occurred. Its local magnitude was announced to be $M_L=5.4$ by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Ground motion data recorded at KMA stations were obtained from their data bases. From the data, horizontal and vertical response spectra, and V/H ratio were calculated. The horizontal spectra were defined as GMRotI50 spectra. From the statistical analysis of the GMRotI50 spectra, a mean plus one standard deviation spectrum in lognormal distribution is obtained. Regression analysis is performed on this curve to determine the shape of spectrum including transition periods. Applying the same procedure, the shape and transition periods of vertical spectrum were obtained. These results were compared with theKorean standard design spectra, which were developed from domestic and overseas intra-plate earthquake records, and Gyeongju earthquake response spectra. The response spectra of Pohang earthquake were found to be almost identical with the newly proposed design spectra. Even the V/H ratios showed good agreement. These results confirmed that the method adopted when developing the standard design spectra were valid and the developed design spectra were reliable.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.103-111
• /
• 2018

This study examines the seismic failure of RC low-rise building structures having irregularities at the ground story during the 15 November 2017 Pohang, Korea, earthquake, $M_w=5.4$, which is the second strongest since the government began monitoring them in 1978 in South Korea. Some 2,000 private houses were damaged or destroyed in this earthquake. Particularly, serious damage to the piloti story of RC low-rise residential building structures of fewer than five stories was observed within 3 km of the epicenter with brittle shear failure of columns and walls due to severe torsional behavior. Buildings below six stories constructed before 2005 did not have to comply with seismic design requirements, so confinement detailing of columns and walls also led to inadequate performance. However, some buildings constructed after 2005 were damaged at the flexible side of the piloti story due to the high torsional irregularity. Based on these results, this study focuses on the problems of the seismic torsion design approach in current building codes.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.561-571
• /
• 2021

The 2017 Pohang earthquake left us with issues related to long-term repair and restoration from massive earthquake damage. The existing Earthquake response manual was insufficient to consider the flow of earthquake disaster work and the characteristics of long-lasting earthquake disaster. Accordingly, It is important to analyze and record how to earthquake response work was carried out during the Pohang earthquake. The functions that require the most work and manpower in the event of an earthquake disaster were emergency life stabilization support, facility emergency recovery, and energy functional restoration. As a result of analyzing the difficulties and problems of disaster response by function, it was found that the prevention and preparation for damage in advance was insufficient for each function. In conclusion, we subdivided the response step applied with the concept of time and presented the overall work flow process for thirteen collaboration functions. It is expected that this result will help disaster managers to work effectively in the event of a large scale earthquake.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.51-117
• /
• 2019

On 15th November 2017, the coastal city of Pohang, located in the Southeastern part of South Korea was shaken by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. The earthquake displaced more than 1,700 residents and caused more than $ 300 million dollars of economic loss. It was the second most damaging earthquake in the history of Korea. Soon after the earthquake, a group of scientists raised a possible link between the first Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) project and the earthquake. At the same time, another group of scientists put forward a different hypothesis of the causation of the earthquake claiming that it was caused by the geological movements that were initiated by the Great Tohoku Earthquake in 2011. Since then, there were scientific debates between the two different groups of scientists. The scientific debate on the causation of the earthquake has been concluded temporarily by the Research Investigatory Committee on the Pohang Earthquake in 2019. The research committee concluded that the earthquake was caused by the Pohang EGS system: this means that the earthquake can be defined not as a natural earthquake, but as an artificially triggered earthquake. This article is to examine the Pohang earthquake can be defined as an Anthropocenic event. The newly suggested concept, the Anthropocene is a relatively novel term to classify the earthly strata and their relationship to geological time. The current geological period should be defined by human activities and man-made earthly environment. Although the term is basically related to geological classification, the Anthropocene has been widely debated amongst humanist and social science scholars. The current disastrous situation of our planet also implies with the Anthropocene. This paper is to discuss how to understand anthropogenic events. In particular, the paper pays attention to two different scholarly positions on the Anthropocene: Isabelle Stenger's Gaia theory and Barbara Herrnstein Smith's relativist theory. The former focuses on the earthly inevitable catastrophe of Anthropocene while the latter suggests to situate and contextualise anthropogenic events. On the basis of the theoretical positions, the article is to analyse how the Pohang earthquake can be located and situated.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.251-259
• /
• 2021

Current seismic fragility functions for buildings were developed by defining damage state threshold based on story drift concerning foreign references and using the capacity spectrum method based on spectral displacement. In this study, insufficient details and dependence on the core location of piloti-type buildings were not reflected in the fragility function because it was developed before the Pohang earthquake. In order to develop an improved one for piloti-type buildings, several types of core were selected, damage state threshold was determined based on the capacity of structural members, and three-dimensional analyses were utilized. As a result, seismic fragility functions based on spectral acceleration were developed for various core locations and different shear strengths of the column stirrup. The fragility of piloti-type buildings significantly varied according to core location, an additional single wall, and whether the contribution of column stirrup was included or not. To estimate fragility more reasonably, it is necessary to prepare the parameters to reflect actual state well.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.57-67
• /
• 2021

An earthquake occurred on 17 November 2017 in Pohang, South Korea with a strength of 5.4 Mw. This is the second strongest earthquake recorded by local authorities since the equipment was first installed. In order to improve understanding of earthquakes and surface deformation, many studies have been conducted according to these phenomena. In this research, we will estimate the surface deformation using the Okada model equation. The SAR images of three satellites with different wavelengths (ALOS-2, Cosmo SkyMed and Sentinel-1) were used to produce the interferogram pairs. The interferogram is used as a reference for surface deformation changes by using Okada to determine the source of surface deformation that occurs during an earthquake. The Non-linear optimization (Levemberg-Marquadrt algorithm) and Monte Carlo restart was applied to optimize the fault parameter on modeling process. Based on the modeling results of each satellite data, the fault geometry is ~6 km length, ~2 km width and ~5 km depth. The root mean square error values in the surface deformation model results for Sentinel, CSK and ALOS are 0.37 cm, 0.79 cm and 1.47 cm, respectively. Furthermore, the results of this modeling can be used as learning material in understanding about seismic activity to minimize the impacts that arise in the future.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.49-58
• /
• 2022

The 2017 Pohang earthquake caused severe damage to low-rise piloti buildings. The damage was caused mainly by column shear failure, and some core walls were as well. The damaged piloti buildings in Pohang City could be relieved if they were designed correctly according to the standards at that time. However, the post-earthquake investigation revealed design, construction, and permission problems. To solve the problems, the Piloti Building Structure Design Guidelines that include strict specifications were published in 2018. Separately, KDS 41 17 00, the seismic design standard for buildings, was enacted in 2019 and it included the guideline contents. Therefore, at least after the publication of the guidelines, piloti buildings, designed by the standard and guidelines, can be expected to possess better seismic performance than existing piloti buildings. To confirm this, the probability of exceedance for several damage state thresholds was estimated for existing and designed piloti buildings. As a result, the probability of damage of designed piloti buildings was very low compared to existing ones. Consequently, it was confirmed that the guideline and standard adequately supplement the structural fragility of existing piloti buildings.