2016 Meinong, Taiwan Earthquake
Event Date :
02-06-2016
Location :
Taiwan
Report Date :
03-14-2016
Event Category:
Earthquake
Sequence of Events:
No
EQ Magnitude :
6.3
Report Number:
GEER-046
DOI:
doi:10.18118/G6PK5J
Event Latitude:
22.93
Event Longitude:
120.54
Team:
| Joseph Sun |
| Tara Hutchinson |
| Kevin Clahan |
| Farnyuh Menq |
| Eric Lo |
| Wen-Jong Chang |
| Kuo-Fung Ma |
| Chi-Chin Tsai |
| Kuo-Liang Wen |
| Chyi-Tyi Lee |
| Jyun-Ya Huang |
| Tong-Ho Tsai |
| Typhoon Huang |
| Pin-Kun Lu |
| Tian-Yu Wang |
Collaborators:
NCKU, NCU, NCREE, Sinotech
Sponsors:
- NCKU,
- NCU,
- NCREE,
- Sinotech,
Summary:
The Meinong earthquake registered a magnitude of Mw 6.3 (ML6.4) with a focal depth of 16.7 km by Taiwan Central Weather Bureau (CWB) and 23 km by USGS. The focal mechanism to the main event was characterized as strike-slip with an oblique thrust component. Seven aftershocks were recorded within the 24-hour window after the main shock with all of the aftershocks occurring west of the mainshock and with much deeper focal depths.
No significant damage was reported in the epicentral region. However, damage was reported about 30 km (25 miles) west of the epicenter in Tainan City where more than 20 multi-story buildings constructed under relatively modern building codes were severely damaged, including seven that suffered a complete collapse. The nearest damage was observed about 20km from the epicenter in historical sections of Guanmiao. There was widespread damage associated with liquefaction, resulting in slope failure of levees and large uniform and differential settlement of residential buildings. The later led to several severely tilted buildings. Most of the liquefaction occurred in very fine sands to very silty sands. The humanitarian loss included 116 fatalities and more than 500 injuries.
There were some unexpected structural performances, geographical damage patterns, and liquefaction manifestation from the Meinong earthquake compared with prior earthquakes of similar magnitude. As such, this reconnaissance placed emphasis on the following:
- Seismic source characterization
- Influence of geology, structure, and local soil conditions on ground motions
- Liquefaction of fine-grained sands and silty sands
- Performance of buildings and foundations in liquefied soils
- Performance of non-symmetrical and soft story buildings
Contributors
J.J. Dong (NCU) – Geotechnical Engineer; Che-Min Lin (NCREE) – Seismologist; Chun-Shiang Kuo (NCREE) – Seismologist; Chun-Te Chen (NCREE) – Seismologist; Auga Tsai (Sinotech) – Geotechnical Engineer; Lun-wei Wei (Sinotech) – Geotechnical Engineer; Wei-kai Huang (Sinotech) – Geotechnical Engineer; Shih-Hsun Chou (NCKU); Chen-Han Lin (NCKU); Ting-Han Hsiao (NCKU); Han Hsiao (NCKU); Wei-Chun Lin (NCHU); Hsing-Wen Lui (NCHU); Siang-Fu Jhuang (NCU); Shun-Qiang Zhang (NCU); Qi-Xuan Zhong (NCU); Meng Xuan Shi (NCU)
File Upload :
| File Title | File Version | File Date | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report Part 2-Remote Sensing | Version 1 | 03-14-2016 |
PDF
|
| Report Part 1 | Version 2 | 07-14-2016 |
PDF
|
The work of the GEER Association, in general, is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation through the Geotechnical Engineering Program under Grant No. CMMI-1266418. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The GEER Association is made possible by the vision and support of the NSF Geotechnical Engineering Program Directors: Dr. Richard Fragaszy and the late Dr. Cliff Astill. GEER members also donate their time, talent, and resources to collect time-sensitive field observations of the effects of extreme events.
