Structural analyses to replicate the observed damage to engineered buildings from the January 2010 Haiti earthquake

Although the majority of devastation in the January 12 2010 Haiti earthquake was from non-engineered structures, the earthquake also damaged several modern engineered buildings in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Data gathered on the observed performance of a selection of these structures is being used for the purposes of comparison with, and calibration of, analysis-based predictions used in seismic assessment procedures. Structures were selected for investigation based on their damage state, available design information, and accessibility. These buildings are a small set of important engineered reinforced concrete structures within Port-au-Prince. The available information is being used to construct analytical models using state-of-the-art techniques for nonlinear dynamic analysis. Seismic hazard levels are being estimated by indexing to the level of demand required to bring about the observed damage. Conclusions on the efficacy of these methods are being drawn through comparisons of the predicted response to actual outcomes. The final deliverable is a report documenting the structure and design information; the post-earthquake state; the modeling techniques; analytical results/comparison and evaluation of the methods. As an interim report, this paper presents: (1) general Haiti earthquake information; (2) damage mapping of candidate structures; (3) preliminary analytical modeling.