Geoscientists Without Borders^®

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: "Shear Wave Velocity Measurement and Estimation of Seismic Site Response in Port-au-Prince, Haiti"

Partners: Haiti Engineering, University of Haiti

Summary: Haiti is one of the most impoverished nations in the world. According 2011 statistics compiled by the World Bank1, the average annual income in Haiti is around $700, and 77% of Haitians live below the poverty line. Haiti is also highly susceptible to strong ground motion as evidenced by the January 12, 2010 Port-au-Prince Earthquake (image left), which led to catastrophic loss of life with fatalities estimated at around 300,000. The earthquake also resulted in approximately $8 billion in damage, which is approximately 120% of Haiti's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Today, Haiti remains at risk due to its location in a zone of high seismicity. Most earthquake-induced loss of life in underdeveloped nations like Haiti is due to structural collapse, which is caused by poor construction practices and unknown soil conditions.

Soil conditions play a role by causing amplification, which destabilizes buildings and causes them to collapse. Some post-earthquake research has been performed in an effort to map soil conditions in the Port-au-Prince area. The site condition maps published as a result of this effort serve as a helpful guide for initial planning, but maps such as these should always be followed by site-specific analyses, especially for structures where collapse would result in significant loss of life. As the ongoing process of rebuilding continues in Haiti, new structures should be built using appropriate technologies and methods where the effect of local site conditions on earthquake-induced ground surface shaking are quantified. By quantifying expected levels of ground shaking, structural engineers can prudently design structures to be more resistant to earthquake shaking, which will reduce earthquake-induced loss of life and property loss in the future. Such technologies and methods are routinely applied in developed nations such as the United States and Japan, where earthquakes are frequent but earthquake-induced loss of life is relatively minor. However, there is a capability gap where engineers in underdeveloped nations such as Haiti do not have access to these technologies and methods. Therefore, there is a need to start practitioners in Haiti on a path where sites are assessed using the same state-of-practice methods that are successfully used in developed nations.

This humanitarian project is intended to address the lack of knowledge and expertise in Haiti with respect to seismic site response analysis. We will apply a state-of-practice approach to performing seismic site response analyses in Haiti, which will include the use of geophysical seismic surface wave testing.

The scope of this project will include:

1. geophysical testing at selected sites in Haiti to demonstrate the field methods
2. training Haitian personnel on how to perform the testing, analyze the data, and calculate seismic site response using donated equipment and software
3. conducting training seminars at the university level to teach university professors and students how to apply the methods in the future

As a result of this project, the nation of Haiti will be more self-sufficient with respect to seismic analysis, which will ultimately reduce earthquake-induced loss of life and property loss.

Point of Contact: Michael E. Kalinski, Ph.D., P.E. (Project Leader)
Hardin-Drnevich-Huang Professor, University of Kentucky Department of Civil Engineering