Liquefaction Hazard Mapping—Statistical and Spatial Characterization of Susceptible Units
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 6
Abstract
In this paper, we present a three step method for characterizing geologic deposits for liquefaction potential using sample based liquefaction probability values. The steps include statistically characterizing the sample population, evaluating the spatial correlation of the population, and finally providing a local and/or global estimate of the distribution of high liquefaction probability values for the deposit. When spatial correlation is present, ordinary kriging can be used to evaluate spatial clustering of high liquefaction probability values within a geologic unit which in turn can be used in a regional liquefaction potential characterization. If spatial correlation is not present in the data, then a global estimate can be used to estimate the percentage of samples within the deposit which have a high liquefaction probability. By describing the liquefaction potential with a binomial distribution (high versus low), a global estimate can provide an estimate of the mean as well as uncertainty in the estimate. To demonstrate the method, we used a dense data set of subsurface borings to identify and characterize liquefiable deposits for hazard mapping in Cambridge, Mass.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded through USGS Award No. 02HQGR0036 and 02HQGR0040 through the USGS National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program NEHRP program. The writers would also like to thank our friends at Haley & Aldrich, Inc. as well as Greg Knight and Michael Parkin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their assistance in the collection of subsurface test boring data for this study. This paper was also significantly improved as a result of comments from three anonymous reviewers.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 6 • June 2006
Pages: 705 - 715
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 24, 2004
Accepted: Oct 20, 2005
Published online: Jun 1, 2006
Published in print: Jun 2006
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