Indonesia

Earthquake Case Study

 Introduction

Indonesia is located in one of the most active seismic zone in the world. Geologically lies on
five active tectonic plates, earthquakes occurred daily in the region, with a magnitude of 5
in Richter scale or larger happened weekly. The tectonics of Indonesia are very complex, as
it is a meeting point of several tectonic plates. Indonesia is located between two
continental plates: the Eurasian Plate (Sunda Plate) and Australian Plate (Sahul Shelf); and
between two oceanic plates: the Philippine Sea Plate and Pacific Plate.
 As an illustration, Figure shows the epicentres of
recorded earthquakes in Indonesia during the period of
1779 – 2010.
History of recent earthquakes in Indonasia:
Location Date Magnitude Casualties

Sumatra 07 December 2016 6.5 104

Sumatra 02 July 2013 6.1 42

Sumatra 25 October 2010 7.7 435

Sumatra 30 September 2009 7.6 1,117

Java 02 September 2009 7.0 81

Sumatra 12 September 2007 8.5 23

Sumatra 06 March 2007 6.4 68

Java 17 July 2006 7.7 668

Java 26 May 2006 6.4 5,780

Sumatra 28 March 2005 8.6 1,346

Sumatra 26 December 2004 9.2 283,106

 Building structure
• With the exception of a few older masonry
buildings, most buildings were multi-story
concrete frames with brick exterior walls and
infill partitions.
• The newer buildings tended to have more glass
on the exterior and combinations of infill brick
and dry wall interior partitions.
• During earthquakes, the buildings suffered
mostly from a first-story collapse with a few
having a total breakdown of structure due to
improper earthquake designing principles. First-floor collapse in 3-story office

Before and after pictures of 4-story school building.

 Seismic Design and Building
Behavior
• Most multi-story buildings are reinforced concrete
frames with unreinforced solid clay brick infill walls.
The frames are designed as the primary lateral
force-resisting system.
• The stiffness and strength from the brick infill walls
are not typically considered in design.
• Story collapses were primarily due to:
i) Combination of weak columns
ii) Strength and stiffness irregularities created by
discontinuous or failed infill walls
iii) Deficiencies in concrete reinforcement detailing
and construction
• Particularly in older buildings, the sizes of concrete
frame member appeared smaller than required to
resist the ground motion demands. In such cases,
the infill walls tended to improve the performance
initially, till the walls failed leading to a
concentration of deformations that could cause a Failed elements and connections
collapse.
• Concrete spalling and failure revealed:
i) Absence of column stirrups in beam-column
joints
ii) Use of plane, as opposed to deformed,
reinforcing bars
iii) Insufficient column ties (large spacing, small
diameter) with 90 degree hooks with minimal
overlap
iv) Concrete with rounded river stone aggregates
and low bond or compressive strengths
• Beyond the structural system, infill walls and other
architectural finishes (drywall partitions, glass
facades and plaster coatings) were damaged
extensively by the deformations of the flexible
concrete frames.
• Collapses were more prevalent in concrete
buildings constructed prior to about 2002, before
Indonesia revised its building codes with higher Damages in non-engineered buildings
seismic base shears and more stringent design
requirements.
 Building code seismic design
provisions
• The first earthquake loading code in Indonesia was published in 1970 (Indonesian Loading
Guidelines N.I.-18), where the design accelerations were to use 0.1g with working stress
design.
• In 1987, the seismic design requirements were changed to incorporate inelastic response
modification factors and more stringent detailing requirements.
• This standard divided the Indonesian region into six seismic zones, Zone 1 being the highest
and Zone 6 the lowest seismic hazard, and specified two soil conditions (soft or hard).
• In 2002 the code was updated to the Earthquake Resistant Design Standard, which revised
the seismic zone designations, with Zone 1 now being the lowest and Zone 6 the highest
seismic hazard, expanded the soil designations to three, and increased the Design PGA
values to 0.28g for hard soil sites and 0.4g to 0.5g for soft soil sites.

Comparison between collapsed 3-story building and newer 4-story building using extensive
nonstructural damage in accordance to the building code standard.
 Advantages
· Earthquakes pushes the land further up thus
helping the vegetation to flourish
· It helps loosen and churns the soil, allowing
nutrients and minerals to be deposited evenly,
creating a very fertile soil.
· Earthquakes offer deeper insight into the ways
the planet works
· Make Fossil Fuels Easier to Access
· Maintain Planetary Balance
 Disadvantages
· Loss of habitat for humans and animals
· Deaths and injury of humans and animals
· cause landslides
· Can cause the destruction of buildings
· Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes
· The people might experience poverty due to
the destruction
Earthquakes may also cause loss in economy
 The 2005 Sumatra earthquake
• The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on
28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra,
Indonesia. At least 915 people were killed, mostly
on the island of Nias.
• The event caused panic in the region, which had
already been devastated by the massive tsunami
triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake,
but this earthquake generated a relatively small
tsunami that caused limited damage. It was the
third most powerful earthquake since 1965 in
Indonesia.
• The earthquake occurred at 23:09:37 local time,
on 28 March 2005. The hypocenter was located 30
kilometres (19 mi) below the surface of the Indian
Ocean, where subduction is forcing the Indo-
Australian Plate to the southwest under the
Eurasian Plate's Sunda edge.
• The earthquake lasted for about two minutes. In the
twenty-four hours immediately after the event, there
were eight major aftershocks, measuring between 5.5
and 6.0.
• The area is 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Sibolga,
Sumatra, approximately halfway between the islands of
Nias and Simeulue. Seismic recordings give the
earthquake a moment magnitude of about 8.6, and
effects were felt as far away as Bangkok, Thailand, over
1,000 kilometres (620 mi) away.