Kashiwazaki, Japan, Earthquake of July 16, 2007

Sponsored by the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering of ASCE. On July 16, 2007, an earthquake struck Kashiwazaki, Japan, at 10:13 a.m. local time. The epicenter was located 60 km southwest of Honshu in Niigata Prefecture and registered a magnitude of 6.6. Moderate damage was observed in Kashiwazaki (population 96,000), located southwest of the earthquake, and smaller towns such as Kariwa and Nishiyama. Eleven people were killed and 1,339 injured. This TCLEE Monograph discusses in detail the effects of this earthquake on lifeline infrastructure systems: electric power, communication, water and wastewater, highways, ports, railways, gas system and tanks, and emergency response. Most chapters provide an overview of a system's performance, followed by sections describing the system, its damage, the emergency response, and recovery. Each chapter finishes with conclusions and recommendations.