EERI Earthquake Reconnaissance Team Report: M7.8 Muisne, Ecuador Earthquake on April 16, 2016

In mid-April of 2016, the coastal Ecuadoran province of Manabi suffered a devastating earthquake. Damage was spread up and down the coast, with some towns almost being completely erased. In about a month’s time, EERI sent out a reconnaissance team to study the damage. The team was made up of highly energetic structural engineersfrom both practice and academia. Deploying the team was a race against time, as the central government of Ecuador was in full swing of demolishing all severely damaged buildings. Even by the time the EERI team reached the field, many of the low risebuildings have already been completely cleared out in some of the towns. This earthquake further strengthens the case that non-ductile, masonry infilledbuildings continue to pose a high hazard to lives and buildings in the seismically active areas of the world. For example, most of the hospitals the team visited were inoperative mainly due to the masonry infilland other non-structural damage where in most cases the building structure itself withstood the earthquake. This in turn put more pressure and resources on the response teams to set up temporary emergency hospitals and potentially delayed their ability to take in the injured immediately following the earthquake. The world, and more specifically the developing world, is dictated by economics. It’s always going to be cheaper to fill a wall with locally produced brick masonryover manufactured flexible light-weight building materials. We, the earthquake engineering community, need to find a way of safely using brick masonrywhere it can be compatible with the building’s structure. This report is filled with images, data and observations. It is part of a growing collection of information the EERI staff, reconnaissance team, and community have developed on the Ecuador earthquake, including an extensive video briefing and a detailed virtual clearinghouse. The people of Ecuador were very helpful and most of all, welcoming during our visit, especially the Ecuadoran Army Corps of Engineers, who generously provided transportation for the team. Our hearts and our encouragement go out to the people of Manabi Province as they try to rebuild after the devastating earthquake.