Earthquake Damage Caused by Liquefaction Induced Permanent Ground Displacement

Abstract

The authors had previously reported on the liquefaction induced permanent ground displacements during the 1964 Niigata and the 1983 Nihonkai-Chubu earthquakes. In the present paper, the causal relationship of the permanent displacement with the damage to buried gas pipes, foundation piles and bridges is studied. Pertaining to the damage process of the gas pipe in Noshiro City during the Nihonkai-Chubu earthquake as well as a building's foundation piles in Niigata City during the Nihonkai-Chubu earthquake, it was established by numerical analysis that the permanent ground displacements were the direct cause to the damage. Furthermore, the inspection of the damage to the piers and foundation piles of the Showa Bridge and the measurements taken of the ground displacement in the neighborhood revealed that the ground displacement played a major role in the collapse of the bridge.