ABSTRACT
In modern Japan, 19 tremors have caused damage to mountain tunnels. Among these, the details of the damage of three that have caused serious damage are outlined.
The 1923 Kanto Earthquake caused the most serious damage to mountain tunnels, 25 of which collapsed and needed countermeasure work and reconstruction. The 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu Earthquake was a near-field tremor in an urban district, and seriously damaged 12 tunnels. Among these, Higashiyama Tunnel on the Kobe Electric Railway (Figure 1, Shimizu et al. (2007)) and Rokko Tunnel on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line (Figure 2) were particularly seriously damaged, and remained out of service for long periods. The 2004 Niigataken Chuetsu Earthquake seriously damaged 11 tunnels, including the lining of Myoken Tunnel on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line (Figure 3, Shimizu et al. (2007)), that of Uonuma Tunnel on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line (Figure 4, Shimizu et al. (2007)), and that of Wanatsu Tunnel on the Joetsu Line, which took two months to fix.
