The Earthquake in Chile

Crane and Wharf Performance in the Earthquake in Chile

Liftech is communicating with a local structural consultant and terminal operators regarding the damage assessment of the cranes and the wharves.

Preliminary reports indicate that the container cranes that were designed to the modern seismic codes at the two container terminals in the Valparaiso region performed well, and some wharves sustained local damage.

Wharf Damage

Wharf Damage

Crane Damage

Two cranes were damaged at one of the terminals due to a ship collision during the earthquake. Feroze Vazifdar, a Liftech senior engineer, is in Chile providing assistance with the crane damage repair.

Bent Boom

Broken Diagonal

Background

The 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile on February 27, 2010, released 500 times more energy than the quake that hit Haiti (source: WSJ Article), and ranks as one of the most powerful earthquakes on record.

For more information about the earthquake, please see the following article:

New York Times Article

The following websites show the extent of the earthquake and maps of areas impacted:

BBC Map
New York Times Map