RM-2

(Report by Dr. Matsumoto presented in ICOLD Europe 2010 about

Analysis of Observed Seismic Data, but not including Tohoku Eq. Data)

The Recent Earthquakes and Dam Safety in Japan

N. Matsumoto1
1
Japan Dam Engineering Center, Ikenohata 2-9-7, Nissyoku Building, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: matsumoto@jdec.or.jp

tenders are sometimes hard to get to the dam site. Their

Abstract houses might be collapsed or commuter train or access road
might be interrupted. After Kobe Earthquake of 1996, Hyogo
The paper describes briefly the performance of dams during Prefectural Government decided to have minimum number of
recent earthquakes in Japan. First the inspection of dams after staff reside at very close location to the site.
the earthquake is introduced and secondly strong motions at (2) In case of a severe earthquake, telephones and other
dams are discussed. communication systems are prone to be disrupted. Not only
commercially available communication systems, but also
setting up the other communication systems customized for
Introduction
disaster emergency is preferable.
(3) Training of dam operator and dam tender for the
We have had quite a few severe earthquakes in the last
inspection of dam after an earthquake in advance is
decade. Fortunately no dams have had serious damages. Since
important.
Kobe Earthquake of 1996, strong motion accelerometers have
(4) The routes and procedures of inspection should be clearly
been installed at most dams. The paper tries to summarize
specified at each dam. Only general inspection procedure is
some lessons and findings of the performance of dams during
not practical for a specific dam.
recent several earthquakes.
(5) An investigation team consisting of qualified engineering
personnel should be dispatched as quickly as possible if it is
Inspection of dams after the earthquake necessary. Dispatching a support team is also helpful. It is
sometimes difficult to secure necessary number of staff in
Table 1 lists the recent events after the Kobe Earthquake of case of a severe earthquake.
1996. (6) The reference materials such as drawings and documents
on dams, gates, and electrical systems should be well
TABLE 1: RECENT EARTHQUAKES IN JAPAN prepared in advance. The documents on the performance of
Number of dams dams and reservoirs since first filling should always be ready
Name of Earthquake Date of occurrence Magnitude
inspected for use.
Kobe 17 January, 1995 7.3 251 (7) The helicopter is very useful for inspection of dams after
Tottori 3 October, 2000 7.3 180
earthquakes.
Miyagi North 26 July, 2003 6.2 14
Niigata Chuetsu 23 October, 2004 6.8 114 Especially in case of 2004 Niigata Earthquake we had such
Noto 25 March, 2007 6.9 108 problems as:
Niigata Chuetsu-oki 16 July, 2007 6.8 310 (1) Roads were damaged and caretakers were unable to reach
Iwate-Miyagi 14 June, 2008 7.2 134 the dam sites immediately.
(2) Power was lost, and there were not emergency power. The
Inspections after the earthquake are carried out based on the gates of outlet works did not operate. Hence the water surface
Inspection Guideline of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, rose to the overflow spillway crest. Well maintained
and Transportation issued in 1978 and revised in 2005. emergency power generator is necessary.
If an earthquake occurs with the PGA greater than 1/3 of (3) It was difficult to measure the permanent deformation of
design seismic coefficient, or equal to Seismic Intensity (JMA the embankment dam by geodetic method because of the
Scale) of 4 or more, the dam operator should make the movement of reference point. GPS worked very well.
primary inspection which is visual one immediately after the In case of 2008 Iwate-Miyagi earthquake, we also had land
earthquake and report the results to the supervisory office slides.
within three hours. After the immediate inspection, the dam (1) Fifteen quake lakes were triggered by the earthquake.
operator should make the more detailed secondary inspection Three of them breached, but the water was trapped by the
and report it within 24 hours for most cases. downstream dams.
Our lessons learnt from those events follow; (2) A massive land slide with slope length of 1.3 km and
(1) Once a severe earthquake occurs, dam operators or
width of 0.9 km occurred near Aratozawa Dam. Its volume None or Minor (15≦H≦30m) None or Minor (30m<H)

was estimated to be 67 × 10 6 m3. The portion of the slide mass 200

Moderate or Serious (30m<H)

of 1.5 × 10 6 m3 in volume moved into the reservoir and raised

the water level as much as 1.5 meter.

Epicentral Distance (km)

150

Performance of dams
100

In this chapter performance of dams in the vicinity of the

epicenter or causative faults is illustrated in connection with 50

Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) magnitude MJ and

epicentral distance L (km). For shallow crustal earthquakes, 0
the relation of MJ and the moment magnitude MW is given by 5 6 7
Magnitude of Earthquake
8 9

MW=0.78MJ+1.08. Figures 1-5 show the relation of

performance of dams with MJ and epicentral distance L for Figure 3: Earth core rockfill dam (n=45)
different types of dams [1]-[7]. When MJ is less than 6.5, any
type of dams had no damage even if the site is very close to None or Minor (30m<H) Moderate or Serious (30m<h)
the epicenter. When MJ is greater than 7.0 and the distance is 200

less than 30 km, some of embankment dams had moderate

damage such as small failure of the shoulder of the crest. Epicentral Distance (km) 150
Concrete dams had no damage in any case.
100
None or Minor (15≦H≦30m) None or Minor (30m<H)
200

50
Epicentral distance (km)

150

0
5 6 7 8 9
100 Magnitude of Earthquake

Figure 4: CFRD (n=7)

50

None or Minor (15≦H≦30m) None or Minor (30m<H)

0 Moderate or Serious (15≦H≦30m) Moderate or Serious (30m<H)
5 6 7 8 9 200
Magnitude of Earthquake
Epicentral Distance (km)

Figure 1: Concrete gravity dam (n=163) 150

None or Minor (15≦H≦30m) None or Minor (30m<H)

200 100
Epicentral Distance (km)

150 50

100 0
5 6 7 8 9
Magnitude of Earthquake
50

Figure 5: Earthfill dam (n=48)

0
5 6 7 8 9
Natural period of dams
Magnitude of Earthquake

Figure 2: Concrete arch dam (n=23)
The natural periods of dams were computed by using the
strong motion records [8]. The frequency response function is
given by dividing Fourier spectrum at dam crest motion by
Fourier spectrum at foundation motion. Thus the frequency of
the first mode was obtained. Figures 6-9 show the relationship
between natural period and height of four dam types [9]. Note
data of concrete gravity, arch and rockfill dams come from 0.40
Japanese dams. Data of earthfill dams are from Japan, Taiwan
[10] and US [11]. The number of earthquakes studied in this

Natural period (sec)

0.30
chapter is 79. Regardless of the dam types, the natural period
increases with the dam height. The relationship between
0.20
natural period and dam height will be given by Equations (1)
to (4). These conclusions are consistent with the previous
knowledge by Okamoto [12]. 0.10
For concrete gravity dams,
0.15 (1) 0.00
T= H + 0.024
100 0 50 100 150 200
For concrete arch dams, Height in meters, Concrete arch dams
0.11 (2)
T= H + 0.17 Figure 7: Natural period of concrete arch dams
100
For rockfill dams, L/H<3.5 L/H>3.5 Iwate Miyagi Earthquake
0.25 (3) 1.00
T= H + 0.21
100
For earthfill dams, 0.80

Natural period (sec)

0.29 (4)
T= H + 0.30 0.60
100
Here, T is natural period in second and H the height of dam in
meter. 0.40

In Figure 8, two data points are deviated from the recurrence

relation. These two periods are obtained from very big 0.20
ground motions during 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Earthquake, which
means that the natural period of rockfill dam is elongated by 0.00
big shaking or nonlinear property. 0 50 100 150
Height in meters, Rockfill dams

L/H<3.5 L/H>3.5 Figure 8: Natural period of rockfill dam

0.30

L/H<8.0 L/H>8.0
0.70
Natural period (sec)

0.20 0.60
Natural period (sec)

0.50

0.40
0.10
0.30

0.20
0.00 0.10
0 50 100 150 200
0.00
Height in meters, Concrete gravity dams
0 20 40 60 80 100
Figure 6: Natural periods of concrete gravity dams Height in meters, Earthfill

Figure 9: Natural period of earthfill dam

In the two dimensional mathematical model of shear vibration

of earthfill dam, the natural period of ith mode Ti is given by
Equation (5) by Mononobe [13].
2πH (5)
Ti =
zi G ρ
where zi is the solution for the Bessel function of J0(zi)=0, G
is shear modulus and ρ is density. Accordingly the period is
approximately proportional to the height if the structure can 20

Amplification ratio of dam crest

Concrete Arch Dams
be assumed two dimensional. Concrete arch dam is basically
three dimensional. In Figures 6, 8 and 9, the effects of ratio of 15
crest length L to H are indicated. Figure 10 shows T/H of

to foundation
concrete gravity dams and fill dams decreases with L/H and 10
hence natural period of these types of dams is affected by
abutment constraints.
5

0.020
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Period (s) / Height (m)

0.015 PGA of the horizontal stream component　in gals

Figure 12: Concrete arch dams (Japan=8, US=3)

0.010
20

Amplification ratio of dam crest

Rockfill Dams
0.005
Concrete gravity Rockfill Earthfill 15

to foundation
0.000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 10
Ratio of crest length to height
5
Figure 10: Effects of constraint of abutments
0
Amplification ratio 0 500 1000 1500
PGA of the horizontal stream component in gals
Figures 11 to 14 depict the amplification ratio of PGA at the
crest to the foundation in the stream direction. The ratio of Figure 13: Rockfill dams (Japan=40, US=3)
cross canyon and vertical direction is omitted here because of
space limitation. The ratio is affected by frequency 10
Amplification ratio of dam crest

Earthfill Dams
characteristics of input motions. In these Figures, however, 9
8
only the ratio of PGA is shown disregarding the frequency 7
to foundation

characteristics of input motion. 6

5
20 4
Concrete Gravity Dams 3
Amplification ratio of dam crest to

2
15 1
0
foundation

0 100 200 300

10 PGA of the horizontal stream component in gals

5
Figure 14: Earthfill dams (Japan=36, US=13)

The ratio reduces with the increase of PGA due to non-linear

0 properties of materials and structures. We can also expect
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
more damping in rockfill and earthfill dams than in concrete
PGA of the horizontal stream component in gals
gravity dams. Note data are from mostly Japan and some
Figure 11: Concrete gravity dams (Japan=116). from USA [14]-[15].

Reduction of shear modulus

The Miho Dam is a 95 m high rockfill dam with a central

impervious clay core as shown in Figure 15. Fifty earthquake
events were recorded between 1976 and 1992 at the Miho
Dam. The shear modulus of the rockfill materials of the Miho
Dam was analyzed by using six events that had larger
acceleration records. The natural frequency of first mode f1 TABLE 2: STRAIN AND SHEAR MODULUS
was calculated from recorded strong motions and it was
No. Dam Earthquake Mj f1 (Hz) strain(10-5) G/G0
confirmed that the frequency reduces with the increase of
earthquake shaking [16]. The relation of reduction ratio of 1 Miho JUN 29, 1980 6.7 1.95 6.4 0.91
2 Miho APR 14, 1981 4.5 1.86 5.4 0.82
shear modulus G/G0 and f1/f10 is expressed by the following
3 Miho AUG 8, 1983 6.0 1.81 16.3 0.78
equation: 4 Miho DEC 17, 1987 6.7 2.00 4.0 0.95
2
G  f1  5 Miho AUG 2, 1990 5.1 1.86 5.4 0.82
= 
G0  f10  6 Miho FEB 2, 1992 5.7 2.05 2.2 1.00
(6)
where G0 is shear modulus obtained from the very small 7 Aratozawa JUN 14, 2008 7.2 0.85 150.0 0.10
earthquake and f10 is frequency of first mode for very small
earthquake. Maximum shear strain in the dam body was The data point of 7 is not obtained from Miho Dam but from
calculated from the maximum displacement at the crest dmax Aratozawa Dam during 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Earthquake (After
and the dam height H. The value of dmax was approximately Prof. Ohmachi [17]). It is amazing that the shear modulus
estimated from the maximum acceleration at the crest αmax. reduces to 1/10 when subjected to very strong earthquake
Figure 16 shows the relationship between the shear modulus motions. This non linear property of rockfill is one of key
and shear strain based on data from earthquakes recordings in elements of the capability of dams to withstand to very severe
Table 2 and cyclic loading triaxial tests for rockfill materials ground motions.
of the Miho Dam. The reduction of G/G0 from the laboratory
tests is independent of the confining stress. As the shear strain PGA attenuation at different foundation
increases, shear moduli from earthquakes decrease and in conditions
coincidence with those from the laboratory tests.
Ten earthquakes were selected for the comparison of PGA at
dam foundations and soils. Data of National Research
Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED)
are used [18] for PGA at ground surface and underground.
Figure 17 indicates the relationship between the PGA at soil
surface, underground and dam foundations and the distance to
the earthquake causative fault. The dam foundations consist
of mostly rocks that have average shear wave velocity of 1
Figure 15: Maximum section of Miho Dam
km/s. The strong motion instruments of KiK-net are usually
installed at the ground surface and at the depth of the ground
σc=0.1MPa σc=0.2MPa σc=0.3MPa in rocks. The depth of the underground instrument varies
σc=0.4MPa Miho Aratozawa from site to site but mostly about 100m deep from the ground
1.2 surface.
Ratio of shear modulus (G/G0)

We assumed that the attenuation of PGA is given by simple

1 form of Equation (7) to make the difference of attenuation
0.8 relation clear for different foundations.
k (7)
PGA = M
0.6 (R + ∆ )b j

0.4 Here, PGA of the horizontal component in gals (=cm/s2), R:

the distance in km to the earthquake causative fault or the
0.2 distance to the hypocenter if fault plane is not known, Δ
0 =fixed value of 20km, b: fixed value of 2.0, Mj: magnitude of
1.0E-06 1.0E-05 1.0E-04 1.0E-03 1.0E-02 the earthquake in JMA Scale.
Shear strain
Hence the attenuation coefficient k indicates the effect of the
type of foundation. The average values of k are 0.67*105 for
Figure 16: G/G0 versus strain relationship obtained from the underground, 1.18*105 for the dam foundation, 2.80*105
earthquake records and laboratory tests for the soils. It means that PGA at soils is much larger than
underground and foundation rocks of dams.
 Dam Foundations Ground Surface
1000
PGA (cm/s2)/Magnitude
100
10
1 Matsumoto N. (1996). Performance of dams during Kobe Earthquake
0 25 50 75
Distance to the fault in km
Figure 17: Attenuation of PGA horizontal component at dam
foundations, ground surface and underground
Conclusions
1. We have had several severe earthquakes in this decade, but
no dams collapsed. When MJ is less than 6.5, any type of
dams had no damage even if the site is very close to the
epicenter. When MJ is more than 7.0 and the distance is less
than 30 km, some of embankment dams had moderate
damage. Concrete dams had no damage in any case.
2. In case of severe events, we had rock falls, land slides and
communication disruptions which cause inspection of dams
after the event difficult to carry out. Some emergency
precautions listed in the paper are necessary.
3. Relation of the natural period and the height dam is
obtained from recorded data for different dam types.
4. The amplification ratio of PGA at dam crest to foundation
reduces with increase of ground motion for both of concrete
dams and embankment dams. The shear modulus of rockfill
dam decreases significantly even to 1/10 when subjected to
very strong shaking. One reason of capability of embankment
dams to withstand to severe ground motions should be
attributed to this non linearity.
5. PGA attenuation relations at underground, surface soil and
dam foundations are compared. PGA at normal dam
foundation of rock is smaller than PGA at soils.
Acknowledgements
The data of Figure 13 are taken from Kik-net data provided
by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster
Prevention. Some of figures in this paper were presented at
the Committee of Seismic Aspects of Dam Design of ICOLD
Underground
and comments were given from committee members. Mr. K.
Kido of Japan Water Agency and Y. Sugiura of INA
Consultants assisted the author for preparing the figures.
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