Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


U.S. Structural Engineers Report on L'Aquila, Italy Earthquake Devastation


April 16, 2009, Los Angeles, CA – Structural engineers from Miyamoto International and Global Risk Miyamoto (GRM) are reporting on their findings after arriving in L’Aquila, Italy to evaluate damage caused by last Monday’s devastating M6.3 earthquake. The reconnaissance team is focused on assessing the structural integrity of historical and industrial buildings and infrastructure, and providing support to locals businesses. Observations identifying significant causes of structural failures and personal reflections have been posted to their website at www.miyamotointernational.com.

Earthquake experts and structural engineers Peter Yanev and Kit Miyamoto are leading the reconnaissance effort. Among the initial observations sited in the journal, “[We saw] a modern university structure built about 10 years ago... There was widespread destruction inside. Many architectural concrete masonry walls collapsed. So did suspended ceilings. Simply, there were no connections or braces to stabilize these walls and ceilings. I saw numerous concrete masonry walls collapsed onto students’ and faculty desks. If this earthquake had happened when school was in session, it would have killed many students.”

Thousands of commercial and residential buildings collapsed or experienced severe damage, resulting in 295 deaths, over a 1,000 injured and 30,000 displaced. Monetary losses have reached USD$12 billion. Damage to historic and cultural buildings is extensive. Masonry and older concrete buildings and homes performed poorly. Modern buildings generally performed better, but suffered extensive losses to unanchored equipment, fixtures and finishes.

Global Risk Miyamoto is a joint venture formed by Global Risk Consultants, the worldwide leader in unbundled property loss control, and Miyamoto International, one of the largest structural engineering firms in California. The company was formed specifically to provide corporations and public agencies with accurately quantified site-specific risk identification and loss expectancies resulting from natural hazard perils such as earthquakes, windstorms, hurricanes, typhoons, and floods.

Miyamoto International provides structural, earthquake and wind engineering services related to the design and strengthening of buildings. Project sectors include: seismic evaluation and retrofit, education, commercial, civic, corporate, healthcare and infrastructure. With six offices on the west coast and international offices in Tokyo, Japan, and Istanbul, Turkey, Miyamoto International is one of the largest structural engineering firms in the United States.

 

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For more information, contact:
Rhonda Bly, 213-362-7778
rbly@miyamotointernational.com
or
Kit Miyamoto, 916-373-1995
kmiyamoto@miyamotointernational.com

www.miyamotointernational.com