Assessing and managing the risk of earthquake-induced liquefaction to civil infrastructure - Seismic Risk Analysis and Management of Civil Infrastructure Systems - page 130

5.10 Damage to foundations in Christchurch, New Zealand, following
the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 showing liquefaction-induced
settlement of building foundations (courtesy EEFIT, UK).

The assessment of possible infrastructure response to liquefaction-
induced ground movement can be done by:

• Use of case histories . There are numerous case histories of the effect of

liquefaction on infrastructure (e.g. Bird & Bommer, 2004). Typically,
these tend to be biased towards cases where liquefaction caused damage
rather than where it did not. Case histories of earthquake-induced
damage are extremely dependent on local/regional conditions, and are
not easily extrapolated to other regions.

• Engineering judgement . For a high-level evaluation of the potential for

permanent ground deformation to damage infrastructure, use of engi-
neering judgement is essential. In many cases, a combination of judge-
ment and experience will enable designers to evaluate the potential for
ground deformation to cause damage, and what level of damage could
be expected. This will allow the risk associated with liquefaction to be
placed in a framework for comparison with other risks to the system,
and therefore inform a decision about mitigation measures.