CHILE TSUNAMI RESILIENCE

As a long, thin, coastal country situated on the eastern edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Chile is an epicenter for seismic disasters — especially tsunamis. Chile’s geography, unique even within the context of the Ring of Fire, makes tsunami response even more challenging. Because of the short distance between the fault line and the shore, the time between an earthquake and a tsunami is only 7-15 minutes. Given the flat conditions along Chile’s inhabited coastline, there are many cases where evacuation to high ground may not be possible and the distance from the coast to the safe evacuation areas is too far to reach with such little warning. One potential solution to this problem is to design vertical evacuation structures. Although the land occupied by modern-day Chile has a long history of seismic activity, the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2010 have made tsunami preparedness a top priority. After focusing on recovering and rebuilding, Chile has now turned its attention to developing systems that will better prepare the population for future disasters.

In close collaboration with teams at Universidad De Santiago Chile, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the MIT Urban Risk Lab is developing evacuation design strategies to be implemented in the Coquimbo region. Drawing on past tsunami preparedness research in Japan, the team aims to design and build the first tsunami evacuation structure in Latin America (the only other countries that have successfully built such structures are Japan, Indonesia, and the United States). These structures, which will be positioned strategically across flat, populated, coastal areas of Chile (e.g. Coquimbo), will provide an elevated tsunami refuge for those within a fifteen-minute walking radius. Existing versions of such structures take on one of three forms: standalone buildings, add-on structures, and artificial hills and mounds. Standalone buildings are designed and built from the ground up for the purpose of tsunami evacuation; add-on structures seek to retrofit existing buildings with tsunami refuge functionality; artificial hills and mounds involve using landscaping strategies to create raised areas for evacuation. Although the majority of existing evacuation buildings are single-use, it is critical to incorporate an everyday, dual-use to these structures. The investment in these design strategies should go beyond their emergency functions by also addressing daily needs of the community in a way that contributes to the blue-skies social and cultural urban fabric. Because of the one-dimensional nature of existing designs, this project presents an opportunity to innovate on current methods. To explore the potential of the three typologies, the research and design teams will work together to conduct mapping analyses, engage with communities and governments, and visit specific sites to design dual-use evacuation strategies for the Coquimbo region.

As cities continue to expand and densify across tectonic coasts around the world, solutions for tsunami resilience need to grow beyond just retreating to higher ground. This project aims to develop a model for building safe, cost-effective, contextually-appropriate, multi-use tsunami evacuation structures throughout Latin America, and potentially around other parts of the Ring of Fire that face challenges similar to Chile’s. Given that the only existing tsunami evacuation structure across either of the Americas is a single elementary school in Washington state, there is certainly an opportunity to expand this Chilean project across several eastern Pacific contexts.

MIT Urban Risk Lab: Miho Mazereeuw, Larisa Ovalles Paulino, Romina Cordova Grados, Rutvik Deshpande, Tejumola Bayowa, Ekin Bilal, Yanjun Emily Liu

Universidad De Santiago Chile (USACH): Prof. Sebastián Laclabere A., Prof. Ivan Jimenez

Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM): Prof. Jorge Leon C., Prof. Macarena Barrientos

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: Prof. Magdalena Vicuña Del Río

Supported by: MIT International Science and Technology Initiative (MISTI) Seed Fund

Partner Organizations: Universidad De Santiago Chile, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile