GEOTECHNICAL CONSEQUENCES OF GROUND MOTION - HAZARD PERSPECTIVES

Following the 13 April 1992 Roermond earthquake, areas of the Netherla nds experienced severe shaking and suffered ground failures, particula rly ground cracking, sand injections, and shallow local landslips. Suc h phenomena are well documented in historical case histories of large earthquakes in many areas of the world: famous examples of widespread failure are reviewed and the key phenomena identified, e.g. Assam (189 9) and Alaska (1964). The geotechnical conditions and consequences res ulting from strong ground motions are emphasized and important applica tions in earthquake hazard assessment are discussed in the context of readily available literature. Liquefaction and kindred state changes l eading to masss failure, settlement, and flow-slide behaviour are cons idered for cases of water-saturated sandy and silty deposits. A simple classification is required to facilitate discussion of strong motion domains; these being nearfield, proximal farfield, and distal farfield . Volume changes, dewatering and displacement patterns provide insight s into hazard assessment applications, amongst which three are conside red: (i) intensity scaling effects, with a scheme appropriate to north -west Europe, (ii) in situ measurement by Standard and Cone Penetratio n Tests (SPTs and CPTs), and (iii) palaeoseismology. The potential of finding palaeoliquefaction phenomena in the southern Netherlands is co nsidered to be high in the vicinity of certain faults. The importance of palaeoseismology is evaluated with relevant world-wide research per spectives regarding palaeoliquefaction. Recommendations are given to e ncourage research initiatives.