Performance of the Torre Bosquemar and Olas buildings in San Pedro de la Paz and the Pedro de Valdivia building in Concepción in the 27 February 2010 offshore Maule, Chile earthquake

Abstract

Three of the tall buildings that members of the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council visited after the 27 February 2010 Chilean moment magnitude 8.8 earthquake were reviewed. The three buildings discussed in this paper are located in the Greater Concepción area in the Biobió Region (Region VIII) of Chile. Two of the buildings (Bosquemar and Olas) are located on the west side of the Bio-Bio River in San Pedro de La Paz, while the third building (Pedro de Valdivia) is located on the east side of the river south of the downtown area of the city of Concepción. The tower at Bosquemar was the most thoroughly investigated, although the observations from the damage at all three structures offer important insight that can be applied to current and future earthquake engineering practice.