May 22, 2008 8:54 pm US/Pacific
Bay Area Engineers Return From China Quake Damage
Linda Yee, Reporting
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
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Structural Engineers from Global Risk Myamoto, a Bay Area engineering firm, took this picture of damage and devestation from the Sichuan Quake.
Global Risk Myamoto
No one expected the Sichaun province of China to be seismically active. What happened during the magnitude 8 quake even shocked Bay Area structural engineers from Global Risk Miyamoto.
"It was really, really, really bad," said Kit Miyamoto, president of Miyamato International, "schools and hospitals were the hardest hit."
"We had no idea the amount of devastation we would see," said structural engineer Chris Heaton.
They were the first American team to examine the destruction at the quake's epicenter. They arrived back in the Bay Area Thursday and spoke exclusively to CBS 5.
Their graphic pictures of Hanwang illustrate why they called it "death town." The destruction was so complete.
"First building we visited was a junior high school…It collapsed and killed several hundred children. Completely collapsed building because it was unreinforced masonry," said Heaton. "It was concrete and there were some construction issues…"
Buildings that went up in the 1970s and 80s were the worst. No seismic reinforcements, with poor construction.
"In some cases, you can still see the blackboard, and you can still see part of floor hanging there," Miyamoto said. "Just imagine, kids or teacher standing there, and suddenly the floor underneath of you drops, you go with it and the floor on top falls on top of you."
What scares them is that there are similar buildings throughout the United States, including the Bay Area.
The Loma Prieta quake in 1989 showed the Bay Area's weak spots. Freeway sections collapsed, and dozens of buildings destroyed.
Since then the Bay Area has been involved in major seismic upgrades of its unreinforced concrete or brick buildings. But the work is far from complete.
"If the Hayward fault ruptures, thousands, thousands of people will die," Miyamoto said. "You know, no doubt, because so many buildings are all concrete structures built in pre-1970s and they are dangerous buildings."
Lessons learned from China's quake that can't be ignored.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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