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Simulation of household evacuation in the 2014 Ludian earthquake

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Abstract

Earthquake evacuation is important to reduce casualties. To identify the requirements for a successful evacuation, we first investigated the casualties in the Ludian earthquake. Then, a simulation model was developed using a typical building destroyed during the earthquake. This model was integrated with the social force model to describe indoor earthquake evacuation behaviors under different conditions. Instantaneous average speed and social forces were estimated. Finally, the acquired safety escape time (ASET) was determined using finite-element method. We adopted the pedestrian library of AnyLogic software to calculate the required safety escape time (RSET) values under different conditions. We found that RSET was greater than ASET. Thus, people at home failed to escape. RSET varied with escaping velocity. RSET decreased as the velocity increased in a certain range. RSET was influenced by people distribution across rooms. Wall designs affected RSET. A reasonable wall layout could shorten the path distance and consequently reduce RSET. The results of the present work implied that ASET is related to earthquake ground motion (EGM). Seismic energy is concentrated at the start of EGM. Therefore, buildings collapse instantly, and people at home hardly escape from the indoors and must seek temporary security zones in their rooms. In addition, the relative velocity seismic response of a building should be considered.

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Acknowledgments

The writers wish to express their appreciation for the award of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 11461078, 41164002, 51264037) and Yunnan Province Department of Science and Technology Major Project (2012CA024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Urban Construction and Management, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China

    Mei-Ling Xiao, Yang Chen, Ming-Jiao Yan, Liao-Yuan Ye & Ben-Yu Liu

  2. Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, 650000, Yunnan, China

    Mei-Ling Xiao, Yang Chen, Ming-Jiao Yan, Liao-Yuan Ye & Ben-Yu Liu

  3. College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China

    Mei-Ling Xiao, Yang Chen, Ming-Jiao Yan, Liao-Yuan Ye & Ben-Yu Liu

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  1. Mei-Ling Xiao
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  2. Yang Chen
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  3. Ming-Jiao Yan
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  4. Liao-Yuan Ye
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Correspondence to Mei-Ling Xiao.

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Xiao, ML., Chen, Y., Yan, MJ. et al. Simulation of household evacuation in the 2014 Ludian earthquake. Bull Earthquake Eng 14, 1757–1769 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-016-9887-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-016-9887-6

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