Calibration of Tsunami Loading On a Damaged Building

The survival of a large number of buildings in southern Thailand with minor structural damage under 2–6 m inundation heights above the ground in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy suggests that it is necessary to calibrate the formulas stipulated by FEMA-55 [2000] for computing tsunami loadings. In this study, the weather monitoring building of the Meteorological station at Takua Pa, Phang Nga is used as the case study. The building suffered only minor structural damage to the columns and girders. However, most of the nonstructural members such as infill brick panels were damaged, except a few which contributed to significant reserve strength against the tsunami attack. The FEMA-55 loading is calibrated with the actual building performance from a field load test. The maximum velocity that occurred at the site in that event is assessed, and a velocity suitable for computation of tsunami load for southern Thailand is recommended.