ABSTRACT
Liquefaction is an earthquake ground failure mechanism that occurs in loose, saturated granular sediments and has caused extensive damage to the ground. Soil liquefaction vulnerability mapping is the process of estimating the response of soil layers under earthquake excitations and the variation of earthquake characteristics on the ground surface. Ground conditions play important roles in the prediction of hazards caused by earthquake. Thus to evaluate seismic hazards for a wide area, ground formation history along with soil properties must be known. This paper describes the ground conditions and behavior as a result of earthquake. In this paper, Geographical Information System (GIS) is used to obtain soil liquefaction hazard map. Spatial variations of soil properties are estimated from the available borehole locations where SPT N-values, water table depth and grain size distribution are known. In addition, geo-statistics is helpful to produce the soil liquefaction vulnerability mapping over the entire region using nearby borehole data. Geomorphological land classification components are investigated to attain soil liquefaction hazard map. Methodologies of hazard assessment and the resulting maps will be presented in this paper. These maps are useful for assessing the approximate zones affected by hazards and for disaster prevention planning.
