Shaking table tests of typical B-ultrasound model hospital room in a simulation of the Lushan earthquake

Abstract

Earthquakes have again highlighted the vulnerability of China’s health facilities. The current investigation of the seismic status of hospital facilities was conducted after the Lushan MW6.6 earthquake, and both structural and nonstructural damage are listed. Structural and nonstructural damage of four typical hospitals and clinics are discussed here. Structural damage is here described alongside damage to architectural elements, equipment, and furnishings caused by earthquakes. This investigation indicated that the hospital facilities can lose partial or full functionality due to nonstructural damage or even limited structural damage. Although none of the objects inside were knocked over and only a few decorations fell down, many sets of equipment were severely damaged because of the strong floor vibration. This resulted in great economic losses and delays in rescue operations after the earthquake. Shaking table tests on a full scale model of a B-ultrasound room were conducted to investigate the seismic performance of a typical room in a hospital. The tests results showed that the acceleration responses of the building contents with or without trundles demonstrated different behaviour. Without trundles, the peak acceleration and the peak displacement of building contents first increased with increasing PGA and then decreased when the acceleration exceeded a particular value. Then they both changed a little. Because of the rapid turning trundles, the response of building contents increased only slightly as PGA increased, or even decreased or remained roughly steady. INTRODUCTION Health care facilities are expected to remain functional during and after earthquakes. However, investigations have shown that health care facilities are more vulnerable to earthquakes than other types of buildings. Seismic damage to health care facilities results in interruption of hospital facilities immediately even after the moderate earthquake [1]. The MW8.8 Chile earthquake of February 27, 2010 caused significant nonstructural damage. According to the Ministry of Health of Chile, 71% of the public hospitals were located in the affected areas, providing 63% of the country’s total beds. Of these hospitals, 62% suffered nonstructural damage necessitating some repairs. Of the damaged hospitals that were partially or completely closed after the earthquake, 83% lost partial or total functionality because of nonstructural damage. Some of the hospitals suffered various levels of structural damage, most of which was minor to moderate, with an extremely small portion being severe [2]. The nonstructural components of hospitals in the three counties stricken by the MW9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 performed poorly after the earthquake. Out of the 381 hospitals considered in this study, 8 hospitals suffered from complete destruction of equipment, and 179 hospitals suffered from partial damage to equipment. In particular, in all the 147 hospitals in Miyagi-ken, 5 sets of equipment were completely destroyed, and 179 sets of equipment were partially damaged. Even though some hospitals survived the tsunami, many hospital buildings were damaged due to their poor shock resistance, where the treatment facilities were terminated [3]. Recently, a MW7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, with the epicentre at Barpak Village Development Committee in Gorkha District. There were continued aftershocks throughout Nepal. More than 25 hospitals and 900 smaller facilities, predominantly village health posts, were completely or partially destroyed in the earthquake. Even so, the earthquakes and the continuing aftershocks in Nepal highlight the importance of the efforts the Ministry of Health and Population and WHO have made for more than a decade to ensure that key hospitals, health facilities, and health care workers would be ready and able to function well in an earthquake. The first earthquake on April 25, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, and its aftershocks failed to disrupt services at Kathmandu’s largest public hospitals, including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Patan Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Birendra Army Hospital and the trauma centre at Bir Hospital. A large number of injured people were diagnosed and treated in those hospitals [4, 5]. According to a WHO report, people trapped in earthquake debris rarely survive longer than 48 hours, but 85–95% of persons rescued alive from collapsed buildings are rescued in the first 48 hours after the earthquake. The demand for health services is concentrated within the first 24 hours after the event. Camp and field hospitals and rescue teams usually arrive too late to dramatically increase the number of lives saved. For this reason, the normal operation for nonstructural systems of hospitals is important in the earthquake affected area. Damage to nonstructural systems and components typically results in the majority of the economic losses associated with earthquakes. Losses can exceed 50% of the total value of a facility even though the structure sustains little or no damage. In this way, severe damage and enormous economic losses indicates that previous seismic investigations