- Author
- Shinozuka, M. | Eguchi, R.
- Title
- Seismic Risk Analysis of Liquid Fuel Systems: A Conceptual and Procedural Framework for Guidelines Development.
- Coporate
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles EQE International, Inc., San Francisco
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NIST GCR 97-719, June 1997, 79 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- liquid fuels | risk analysis | earthquakes | pipelines | lifelines | standards
- Abstract
- Recent earthquakes, notably the 1989 Loma Prieta, 1994 Northridge and 1995 Hyogoken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquakes, caused widespread damage to the urban infrastructure facilities including lifeline networks. The unacceptable seismic performance of many lifelines during these earthquakes creates an urgent need to develop comprehensive seismic design and retrofit guidelines. Most current design and construction standards for lifelines do not include seismic provisions and those that do, focus on the seismic performance of components, such as pipelines, pumping stations, and storage tanks. There are neither seismic design guidelines or codes that apply to lifelines as a whole, particularly from the systems point of view. The guidelines developed for a particular component may permit design or retrofit in accordance with a specific level of seismic raks that is not consistent with the importance of that component when analyzed from a systems point of view. In fact, a joint National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) effort to develop and adopt seismic design guidelines and standards for lifelines concluded that "standards for lifeline design and construction must give special attention to the performance of each lifeline as a system and to the interdependence of the various lifeline systems".