GROUND DEFORMATION DUE TO FAULT RUPTURE AND LIQUEFACTION DURING THE 1999 KOCAELI AND DUZCE, TURKEY, EARTHQUAKES:

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

CMS0085306 PI: Jean-Pierre Bardet Institution: University of Southern California Title: "GROUND DEFORMATION DUE TO SURFACE FAULTING AND LIQUEFACTION DURING THE 1999 KOCAELI AND DUZCE, TURKEY, EARTHQUAKES" Abstract During the 1999 Kocaeli and Duzce, Turkey, earthquakes, surface faulting caused substantial damage to structures and lifelines. It is the first time that surface faulting impacts urban and industrial areas to such an extent, and raises major concerns about our current practices in earthquake engineering. During the 1999 Kocaeli, Turkey, earthquake, there was also major damage due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreads and coastal subsidences along the coasts of the Bay of Izmit and Lake Sapanca. The objective of this proposed exploratory research is to measure ground deformations caused by surface faulting and liquefaction during the 1999 Kocaeli and Duzce, Turkey earthquakes. This information, which will be disseminated to researchers and practitioners via the Internet, will contribute to improving models for liquefaction-induced lateral spreads and mitigation criteria for surface faulting effects. The proposed exploratory research completes the work performed immediately after the earthquakes by the earthquake reconnaissance teams and subsequently by our research collaborators in Turkey. The discontinuous dislocations from surface faulting have already been mapped by geologists. However, the continuous fields of ground strain surrounding surface faulting have not yet been measured. The aerial photographs taken prior and after the earthquakes are yet to be interpreted to yield a large-scale understanding of ground deformation and failure mechanisms, especially in stepovers between two strike-slip strands (e.g., Golcuk). The same image processing techniques need also to be also applied for producing maps of liquefaction-induced ground deformations (e.g., Sapanca Lake). The processing and interpretation of aerial photographs will be instrumental in understanding the large-scale ground deformation and failure mechanisms observed during the 1999 Kocaeli and Duzce, Turkey, earthquakes. The objectives of the proposed exploratory research are: (1) Compilation and organization of existing data on surface-faulting and liquefaction-induced ground deformation for the 1999 Kocaeli and Duzce, Turkey, earthquakes; (2) Processing of aerial photographs taken prior to and after the earthquakes for producing maps of permanent displacement vectors and settlements induced by surface faulting and liquefaction; (3) Collection of additional ground surveys, and data on geology and geotechnical soil profiles (e.g., SPT and CPT soundings) in selected areas; and (4) Dissemination of information collected thorough a new GIS platform (Internet Map Server) on the Internet.