Great East Japan earthquake, JR East mitigation successes, and lessons for California high-speed rail.

PDFTech ReportCA-MTI-14-1225DTRT12-G-UTC21Earthquake resistant designRetrofittingHigh speed railReal time informationWarning systemsBest practicesCaliforniaJapanMineta Transportation InstituteEdwards, Frances L.Goodrich, Daniel C.Hellweg, MargaretStrauss, Jennifer A.Eskijian, MartinJaradat, OmarMineta Transportation InstituteCalifornia. Dept. of Transportation. Office of ResearchUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyUS Transportation CollectionCalifornia and Japan both experience frequent seismic activity, which is often damaging to infrastructure. Seismologists havedeveloped systems for detecting and analyzing earthquakes in real-time. JR East has developed systems to mitigate thedamage to their facilities and personnel, including an early earthquake detection system, retrofitting of existing facilities forseismic safety, development of more seismically resistant designs for new facilities, and earthquake response training andexercises for staff members. These systems demonstrated their value in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and havebeen further developed based on that experience. Researchers in California are developing an earthquake early warningsystem for the state, and the private sector has seismic sensors in place. These technologies could contribute to the safety ofthe California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s developing system, which could emulate the best practices demonstrated in Japan inthe construction of the Los Angeles-to-San Jose segment