Photographs from Google Street View before and after a major natural disaster could help researchers and civil engineers to assess the damage to buildings and improve resistance against future events, according to new research from the University.
The research, published in the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) journal Civil Engineering, studied images taken before and after the 2011 Japan earthquake to assess the impacts on buildings from the devastating Tōhoku tsunami.
Google Street View cars were sent around major cities and coastal areas, photographing streets after the tsunami. Images were compiled with those taken before the event to produce an accessible digital archive to allow comparison of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ situations. The resulting images were displayed online (Google Street View, 2011).
Study co-author Dr Alan Bloodworth, Lecturer in Engineering and the Environment said:
“Although such online images cannot completely replace field surveys, they have the potential to exploit an untapped resource of researchers around the world, who can then collaborate with local engineers to learn lessons and improve tsunami resistance of vulnerable coastal communities.”
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