SGER: Wenchuan Earthquake Reconnaissance and Development of Research Agenda on an "Earthquake Resilient Communities in Mountainous Regions"

A devastating earthquake occurred in Wenchurn, Sichurn province, China on May 12, 2008 and caused over 70,000 deaths. This SGER proposal is to support a team of US earthquake engineering specialists to conduct field reconnaissance study to recover perishable earthquake and damage data , and prepare a report to NSF on the new research challenges and disaster mitigating actions that could be carried out and implemented under the mechanisms of US-China S&T Protocol on Cooperative Earthquake Studies, Annex III. The emphasis of this study is placed on seismic design and retrofit of buildings and structures-particularly school and hospital buildings, geotechnical engineering (slope stability), and ground motions (aftershock tracking and monitoring). This team will travel to Chengdu, China to join a companion Japanese team to conduct field survey during July 13-15 under the logistical support and guidance of Sichurn Provincail Department of Science and Technology. Ultimately it is expected to reach a comprehensive understanding as to where we are and where shall we go from here in terms of US-China Annex III Earthquake Protocol, of which ENG/NSF is the Program Administrator from the US-side.