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Preliminary Reconnaissance Report: 12 January 2010 Haiti Earthquake

Speaker: Eduardo A. Fierro1), and Cynthia L. Perry2)1) President of BFP Engineers, Inc., Berkeley, California USA2) Vice-President of BFP Engineers, Inc., Berkeley, California USAAbstract: After 240 years, the Enriquillo Plantain Garden Fault ruptured on 12 January 2010 at 4:53PM, resulting in a 7.0 Magnitude (USGS) earthquake in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The epicenter was located at 18.457°N and 72.533°W and 25 km (15miles) WSW of Port-au-Prince. The earthquake has been a disaster for Haiti; at the time of this writing there are 170,000 confirmed deaths with estimates over 200,000 deaths. The National Palace, Palace of Justice, National Assembly, Supreme Court, Prison Civile de Port-au-Prince, and buildings housing the ministries of finance, education, public works, communication and culture have all been damaged. Power, water, and communications have been disrupted. This report is based on field reconnaissance by Eduardo Fierro. Mr. Fierro was on the ground in Port-au-Prince on Thursday January 14. His photos and observations were made from January 14 to 20, 2010. The primary objective of this initial trip was to observe the performance of building structures, industrial facilities, and infrastructure from a structural engineering perspective. This report documents places and structures that Mr. Fierro personally observed during his visits including Port-au-Prince, Cite Soleil, Petion Ville, Carrefour and other towns en route to Leogane

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes