ABSTRACT
Unfortunately, due to underestimation of the potential tsunami height, many of the designated vertical evacuation centers were not high enough to provide safe refuge during the tsunami.
3 BUILDING STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE
Along the Tohoku coast, tsunami inundation height was in the range of 5 to 30+ meters. In general, light-frame residential construction subject to about a story height or more of inundation will collapse. Therefore, complete collapse of residential light-frame
construction occurred in nearly 100% of all affected areas extending to the edge of the inundation limit. In commercial and industrial areas, low-rise building collapses occurred in the approximate range of 75% towards 95%, with the higher collapse rate occurring as tsunami height reached the upper range (Figure 2). In these inundated coastal zones, buildings taller than 5 stories were uncommon. Despite this devastation, there were a number of these multi-story buildings that survived the tsunami without loss of structural integrity of their vertical load carrying system or foundation.
