Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan

ABSTRACT Tsunamis strike frequently around the world, causing enormous damage. Examples include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. Japan is one of the countries most affected by tsunamis. Detailed data about the number of buildings i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Masahito Kobayashi, Norifumi Hirata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-06-01
Series:Engineering Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.70244
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849425067467866112
author Masahito Kobayashi
Norifumi Hirata
author_facet Masahito Kobayashi
Norifumi Hirata
author_sort Masahito Kobayashi
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Tsunamis strike frequently around the world, causing enormous damage. Examples include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. Japan is one of the countries most affected by tsunamis. Detailed data about the number of buildings in the expected tsunami inundation areas in Japan—including by use and inundation depth—are therefore useful in planning buildings not only in Japan, but also in other countries where tsunami damage is expected. Among more than 5000 seismically isolated buildings (SIBs) that have been constructed in Japan, however, only a very few were designed with tsunami countermeasures. In some SIBs, tsunamis have even inundated the seismic isolation device. The relationship between the locations planned for future SIBs and the expected tsunami inundation areas is therefore very important. In this work, we have surveyed approximately 1600 SIBs based on design data provided by performance‐evaluation organizations and have used the data published by each prefecture to prepare tsunami inundation maps. Our survey results show that Kanagawa and Osaka have large percentages of SIBs constructed in the expected tsunami inundation areas. In addition, the largest percentage of all the SIBs in the expected tsunami inundation areas—40%—has been built in areas where the inundation depth is expected to be 1–3 m. Even buildings like hospitals and government buildings, which must maintain their functions during disasters, have been constructed in areas where the expected inundation depth is 5–10 m.
format Article
id doaj-art-d5c40dc25eda4c888bca7f6c36b76d40
institution Kabale University
issn 2577-8196
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Engineering Reports
spelling doaj-art-d5c40dc25eda4c888bca7f6c36b76d402025-08-20T03:29:53ZengWileyEngineering Reports2577-81962025-06-0176n/an/a10.1002/eng2.70244Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in JapanMasahito Kobayashi0Norifumi Hirata1School of Science and Technology, Meiji University Kawasaki JapanGraduate School of Science and Technology, Meiji University Kawasaki JapanABSTRACT Tsunamis strike frequently around the world, causing enormous damage. Examples include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. Japan is one of the countries most affected by tsunamis. Detailed data about the number of buildings in the expected tsunami inundation areas in Japan—including by use and inundation depth—are therefore useful in planning buildings not only in Japan, but also in other countries where tsunami damage is expected. Among more than 5000 seismically isolated buildings (SIBs) that have been constructed in Japan, however, only a very few were designed with tsunami countermeasures. In some SIBs, tsunamis have even inundated the seismic isolation device. The relationship between the locations planned for future SIBs and the expected tsunami inundation areas is therefore very important. In this work, we have surveyed approximately 1600 SIBs based on design data provided by performance‐evaluation organizations and have used the data published by each prefecture to prepare tsunami inundation maps. Our survey results show that Kanagawa and Osaka have large percentages of SIBs constructed in the expected tsunami inundation areas. In addition, the largest percentage of all the SIBs in the expected tsunami inundation areas—40%—has been built in areas where the inundation depth is expected to be 1–3 m. Even buildings like hospitals and government buildings, which must maintain their functions during disasters, have been constructed in areas where the expected inundation depth is 5–10 m.https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.70244data surveyexpected tsunami inundation areaintermediate‐isolated buildingNankai Trough earthquakeseismically isolated buildingtsunami hazard map
spellingShingle Masahito Kobayashi
Norifumi Hirata
Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
Engineering Reports
data survey
expected tsunami inundation area
intermediate‐isolated building
Nankai Trough earthquake
seismically isolated building
tsunami hazard map
title Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
title_full Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
title_fullStr Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
title_full_unstemmed Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
title_short Data Survey of Seismically Isolated Buildings in the Expected Tsunami Inundation Areas in Japan
title_sort data survey of seismically isolated buildings in the expected tsunami inundation areas in japan
topic data survey
expected tsunami inundation area
intermediate‐isolated building
Nankai Trough earthquake
seismically isolated building
tsunami hazard map
url https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.70244
work_keys_str_mv AT masahitokobayashi datasurveyofseismicallyisolatedbuildingsintheexpectedtsunamiinundationareasinjapan
AT norifumihirata datasurveyofseismicallyisolatedbuildingsintheexpectedtsunamiinundationareasinjapan