The Assessments of Seismic Hazards for the Potential ML 7.0 Changhua Earthquake in Taiwan and the Strategy of School Seismic Disaster Risk Mitigations and Management

Abstract

This research investigates the seismic hazards due to the potential earthquake (ML 7.0) caused by the Changhua fault movement and offers a disaster risk prevention strategy for the elementary school. Some vital ground motion parameters, including spectral intensities SIa, SIv, and SId, characteristic intensity (Ic), standardized version of cumulative absolute velocity (CAVstd), and maximum incremental velocity (MIV), are employed to assess the seismic hazards in the Changhua County, Taiwan. Five valuable results are as follows. At first, the estimated parameters Ic, CAVstd, MIV, and SIa distributed in Changhua County are higher than the damage thresholds with (Ic, CAVstd, MIV, SIa)=(316cm1.5/s2.5, 418cm/s, 30cm/s, 400gal), indicating that the buildings with 1-7 floors in Changhua county may be destroyed seriously, especially for the buildings in the populated areas which contain with 12 townships from the central part to southern portions in the Chunghua County. The second is Shengeng, Lukang, Tianwei, and Yongjing townships, and Changhua and Yuanlin cities have higher SIv values greater than 30cm/s, meaning the buildings with 7-21 floors in these districts may be damaged. The third is the Lukang township, which is famous for the number of historical monuments and has higher values of all the parameters. Therefore, the historical monuments at Lukang township may be destructive. The fourth is that 90% of the elementary schools in Changhua County locate in potentially dangerous places. Finally, the importance of the school's seismic risk mitigation and management strategies is discussed based on the transformational leadership of the principal in the elementary school.