Liquefaction
• Liquefaction occurs where ground water is near
Quite possibly one of the most classic
examples of liquefaction from the 1964
Nigaata, Japan earthquake. While the
buildings themselves seemed to suffer no
structural damage, the ground beneath these
buildings liquefied and the structures simply
sank and rotated into the underlying soil.
the surface in soils composed of sands and silts.
The soil temporarily loses strength and behaves as
a viscous liquid. Structures can settle or tip in the
liquefied soil or be ripped apart as the ground
spreads laterally or flows. Flow failures can move
over kilometers at speeds of tens of kilometers per
hour. They usually develop in loose, saturated
sand on slopes greater than five percent. When
subsurface sand layers lose strength because of
liquefaction, lateral spreading can occur in
overlying sediments allowing them to move down
even the gentlest slopes. Soils may lose shear
strength allowing heavy structures to settle or tip
and lightweight, buried structures to rise
buoyantly. Cracking may result from movement
along faults, differential compaction of the soil, or
slides. Strong ground shaking has compacted
loose cohesionless materials and caused
differential ground settlements ranging from 5 cm
to more than a meter.
 • Sands and silts
– undergo temporary loss of
strength
– behave as viscous fluid
Original • Seismic waves cause void collapse
sediment resulting in densification
structure • Drainage of pore water cannot be
achieved rapidly enough
Void resulting in excessive pore
pressures
collapse
• End point is development of a
QUICK condition
– material behaves as heavy liquid
with virtually no shear strength
Liquefaction damage during the 1964 Great Alaska
earthquake (center), 1964 Nigaata, Japan earthquake
(left) and 1983 Nihonkai-Chubu earthquake (right)

Liquefaction effects from the 1977 Caucete

earthquake. Sand boils occurred (center) as
building settled. Ground failure (left and
right) was very common as water saturated
soils lost their strength.
• The potential for liquefaction in an
area is well understood, and is
dependent upon height of the
groundwater table and types of soil
present. Once these are known,
maps may be constructed for
potential liquefaction. These maps
do not guaranty liquefaction (green
areas) will occur in areas, and not in
others, they simply indicate areas of
highest susceptibility. This map is of
the Newport Beach area from the
California Division of Mines and
Geology (CDMG) Seismic Hazards
Mapping Program. The large green
areas are largely within the Santa
Ana River floodplain, and coastal
beach zones, both with high water
tables.