Prediction of Strong Ground Motion and Building Damage in Urban Areas and Development of a Disaster Mitigation Strategy

Considering the increased population and functionality of urban areas, we have studied the prediction of damages to and disaster mitigation strategies for urban areas which may be devastated when large disaster strikes. We have developed high-precision, high-resolution subsurface soil structure models in Chukyo Area including Nagoya city, by which strong ground motions are first predicted for every site of the area using a pseudo-empirical Green’s function method. Next, major damages are predicted based on earthquake response analyses of various structures such as energy facilities in reclaimed areas, industrial plants in alluvial plains, and high-rise buildings and ordinary school buildings in urban areas. We then have attempted to quantify disaster response capabilities of urban areas to set the target level for disaster mitigation countermeasures. Moreover, we have explained newly developed simulation tools for guiding individual residents to take disaster mitigation precautions by themselves.