Earthquake Damage to Industrial Facilities and Development of Seismic and Vibration Control Technology - Based on Experience from the 1995 Kobe (Hanshin-Awaji) Earthquake -

This paper reviews the situations and features of earthquake damage to industrial facilities, manufacturing companies, energy supply facilities, and mechanical structures and installations in Japan, and traces trends of countermeasure technology developed focusing on earthquake resistance and vibration control. In Japan, with the 1964 Niigata earthquake as the turning point, earthquake damage to industrial facilities became a social problem. With power stations being constructed in the 1960s, it also became an important technological policy to establish seismic design method for nonbuilding structures such as equipment and piping systems related to nuclear power. The Kobe earthquake in 1995 damaged production companies including leading manufacturers so extensively that it brought a new focus to seismic considerations. We studied the damage to typical equipment and installations and, based on this experience, investigated the features of damage modes to industrial facilities and machinery and considered corresponding technical measures. We present some examples and discuss progressive trends in seismic and vibration control technology following the Kobe earthquake. In particular, we focus on the new seismic design code for high-pressure gas facilities and the development of seismic and vibration control dampers and their applications.