THE ROLE AND CHALLENGES OF EARTHQUAKE

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING IN THE

PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF PERU – A CONSTRUCTIVIST
ANALYSIS
Brahian Román Cabrera

ABSTRACT
Since its inception as a subdiscipline of civil engineering, geotechnical earthquake
engineering has drawn inspiration from the experience of the practicing engineers and
developed further, pivoting on the outputs of cutting-edge research performed at
academic institutions. Derived from elements of geology, soil mechanics, geophysics,
and seismology engineering, it is now considered a specialized subject of great
importance in the earthquake hazards mitigation. Hundreds of thousands of people
throughout Peru live with a significant risk to their lives and property from earthquakes,
and millions of dollars of public and private infrastructure are constantly at risk from
earthquakes, as is the health of the Peruvian economy. While it is impossible to prevent
or predict the occurrence of earthquakes, mitigating the effects of strong ground shaking
is possible. However, this subdiscipline must overcome many challenges to effectively
mitigate the risks imposed by earthquakes. This report explores the history and role of
geotechnical earthquake engineering in Peru and is aimed at identifying the challenges
currently faced by the Peruvian community in mitigating the effects of earthquakes and
assuring sustainable economic development of the country. A qualitative approach of
research was selected within the framework of constructivism as it provides an
opportunity to explore themes and questions. The Delphi method for data collection was
used with a group of experts in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering to find
challenges in four main dimensions: culture, academia, industry, and public policies. The
study found several key aspects affecting the performance of geotechnical engineers,
highlighting the need for raising awareness of earthquake-related risks in project
managers, lack of advanced laboratory facilities, outdated design codes, and absence of
public policies focused on applied research for further advancement of the field.

KEYWORDS
Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Delphi method, challenges
INTRODUCTION
Peru is located within1 the Ring of Fire and has experienced many strong earthquakes in
the past. The first recorded earthquake occurred in the 15th century during Inca times. A
manuscript by Father Murua mentions that before the Inca Sinchi Roca dynasty, strong
earthquakes had occurred in Cuzco and that at the time of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, a
great earthquake destroyed the primitive settlement of the city of Arequipa and most of
its inhabitants perished (Silgado, 1978). The earthquake was so strong that it triggered the
eruption of the Misti volcano. Between 1600 and 1700, several large earthquakes
occurred, accompanied by formidable landslides and the destruction of several
settlements. On October 28, 1746, the largest earthquake in Lima to date occurred. Only
25 buildings out of 3000 remained functional, and around 20,000 people died in Lima
and Callao. Even the Viceregal Palace and the cathedral collapsed. The Port of Callao
vanished after a big tsunami hit the coasts. An earthquake of similar characteristics (“the
big one”) is expected to hit Lima in the next 100 years due to the cyclic nature of
earthquakes.
Although the destructive effects of earthquakes have been known for centuries, the
importance of the ground in the earthquake-resistant design of structures and in
earthquake hazard mitigation was not taken into account until the 1960s, when Prof.
Harry B. Seed established the geotechnical earthquake engineering program in California.
Here, he conducted research on dynamic soil properties, ground response analysis, and
soil liquefaction. His results formed the scientific basis for modern geotechnical design.
The most devastating earthquake in Peru was the Ancash earthquake of 1970, which
triggered a landslide from Mount Huascaran, creating a debris flow that buried the town
of Yungay in Ancash and killing over 70,000 people. A year before, Prof. Julio Kuroiwa
Horiuchi had returned to Peru from studying specialization courses on earthquake
engineering in the United States (Caltech) and Japan (the University of Tokyo) and was
part of the technical committee for the evaluation of damages caused by the Ancash
earthquake. This event marked the beginning of earthquake engineering in Peru, as the
awareness raised by the tragedy prompted the government to establish policies for
earthquake hazard mitigation. Prof. Kuroiwa developed the first draft of a code for the
seismic design of structures wherein he pointed out the importance of recording the
earthquake ground shaking through instruments. This proposal was accepted, and, with
the help of a Japanese mission, the Peruvian seismograph network was launched.
In 1974, a 7.6 Mw2 earthquake hit Lima, leaving 78 dead and about 2400 injured.
This earthquake was characterized by soil liquefaction. Although it had been known in
former earthquakes, liquefaction came to be recognized as an earthquake-induced disaster
after this event. This is because urban development and human activities extended
massively to a liquefaction-prone geology (alluvial soils with a high phreatic level), such

1
Ring of Fire: An area in the pacific where many strong earthquakes occur
2
Mw: Moment magnitude scale

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as Cañete, Barranca, and Tambo de Mora. Differential settlements in buildings due to
liquefaction were observed in Callao as well.
The 1990s were the time for the development of modern geotechnical earthquake
engineering after the experience of the prior decades. The Japan–Peru Center for
Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation (CISMID), sponsored by the Japanese
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was inaugurated in 1986. Further, the
Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) strengthened its seismology engineering department.
Major developments for Peruvian earthquake engineering occurred in four fields:
• New technologies in laboratory equipment were acquired by the CISMID,
such as the cyclic triaxial apparatus. Hence, much knowledge was obtained
on the behavior of Peruvian soils under cyclic loading.
• The aforementioned data helped the calibration of the constitutive models
included in source codes for the dynamic analysis of earth dams and slopes,
such as Geosoft, developed by Parra and Alva (1991).
• The third development occurred in the quantitative estimation of ground-
shaking hazard using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. In 1993,
Castillo and Alva grouped 23 earthquake sources of similar characteristics
and proposed the first probabilistic seismic hazard map of Peru, which was
then included in the national building code for seismic design.
• The fourth development occurred in the field of investigation technologies.
Data was collected from seismometers and surface geophysical exploration
methods to take into account the expected nature of future earthquakes as well
as individual conditions, such as topography and soil profiles, starting the
seismic microzonation projects of cities. The results were very helpful for
safer urban planning.
The beginning of the 2000s was marked by the occurrence of the 2001 southern Peru
earthquake (Atico) on June 23 of 8.4 Mw. It was the most devastating earthquake in Peru
since the 1970 Ancash earthquake that buried the town of Yungay. Liquefaction was
observed in Arequipa, inducing the lateral spreading of ground. At 1213 km of the Pan
American Highway, ground shaking damaged the embankments to the extent that it had
to be removed to allow traffic to pass (Koseki, 2002).
The 2001 southern Peru earthquake was characterized by strong acceleration records
and devastating damage, which affected local economy. Figure 1 shows the important
damages in the backfill of a bridge abutment due to which heavy traffic was prohibited,
as the bridge was near collapse. This is the reason that the design of the seismic
resistance of important infrastructures should take into account the economic aspects. The
strong acceleration destroyed many structures such as earth dams and retaining walls.
Nevertheless, this high level of shaking was considered extremely rare, and increasing the
intensity of earthquake design was considered uneconomical. In this regard, the national
code for seismic design was updated in 2003, adopting the philosophy suggested by ISO
3010, which divides earthquakes into two categories. A level 1 earthquake may occur
once in the life period of a given structure. In this case, no damage is allowed under this
earthquake. Level 2 earthquakes occurs once every hundreds of years or longer. For this

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level of earthquake, limited damage is allowed, but fatal damage or collapse should not
occur. This approach is called a performance-based design.

Figure 1. Settlement of bridge approach and the cracking of road. Heavy traffic is not
allowed (Koseki, 2002)
The economic growth observed in Peru since 2000 (with GDP3 growth values of up to
8% from 2006–10) allowed the launch of large infrastructure and mining projects such as
the Peru–Brazil Trans-oceanic highway, Camisea Gas pipelines, Machu Picchu
hydroelectric power station, underground Lima Metro Line 2, and the expansion of Cerro
Verde and the Antamina mines among others. World-class consulting companies set up
subsidiaries in Peru attracted by these profitable projects, resulting in a transfer of
knowledge and increase in geotechnical earthquake engineering standards. The following
are some examples:

• Adoption of international standards for the design and construction of

megaprojects. The Canadian Dam Association (CDA) or the International
Committee for Large Dams (ICOLD) guidelines were used.
• Widespread use of advanced geotechnical software for modelling based on
the equilibrium limit and finite element methods.
• Arrival of specialized companies with cutting-edge technology for the
monitoring and surveillance of structures such as Insar (Interferometric
synthetic-aperture radar) and Lidar (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging)
used for the real-time assessment of dams and open-pit mining.
• Implementation of new technologies in geotechnical structures such as Roller
Compacted Concrete and impervious asphalt cores for dam construction.

3
GDP: Gross Domestic Product

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 Currently, the Peruvian code for seismic design is undergoing a new revision to
include considerations for the safety of underground structures such as the underground
Lima Metro Line 2 and support for increasingly deeper basement excavations.
Furthermore, two Peruvian tailings dams are expected to become the largest of their kind
in the world by 2030—the Rockfill tailings dam of Antamina in Ancash (275 m final
height) and the Sand Tailings Dam of Cerro Verde in Arequipa (200 m final height).
These dams are located in the zones where two very destructive earthquakes occurred in
the past, the 1970 Ancash earthquake and the 2001 southern Peru earthquake (Atico),
respectively.
Despite this progress, geotechnical earthquake engineering still faces many challenges
in fully complying with the philosophy of design proposed by the ISO 3010 to prevent
the devastating damage of earthquakes to the economic development. This report aims to
contribute to the qualitative identification of these challenges. We start with the
hypothesis that geotechnical earthquake engineering plays a key role in supporting the
growth and development of Peru’s economy. The relevance of the topic is demonstrated
by the fact that, unlike structural earthquake engineering (mainly related to concrete and
steel), there are few studies addressing the challenges faced by the Peruvian earthquake
engineering community for a suitable design of geotechnical structures (e.g., earth dams,
embankments, mechanically stabilized earth walls) during earthquakes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This report will address the following research question: what are the main challenges
currently faced by the geotechnical earthquake engineering community of Peru to fully
comply with the philosophy of design proposed by the ISO 3010? A logic chain of four
steps was used to answer the same.
Problem formulation
By reviewing past studies on similar topics and considering the author’s experience, the
research question was converted into a proposition. A qualitative methodology of
research was selected within the framework of Constructivism as this approach provides
an opportunity to explore themes and questions whereas quantitative research is best
suited for testing theory through statistical analysis. Moreover, a specific domain of study
was chosen—communities of practice in developing countries for economic development.
Literature review
The problem belongs to the field of communities of practice for economic development
(Buckley et al., 2016). The data collection method selected was the Delphi method.
Hence, the state of the art of Communities of Practice theory and the Delphi method were
reviewed.
Data collection
The Delphi method was selected because it is well-suited for exploring challenges in
earthquake geotechnical engineering as it encourages the discussion of different opinions,
unlike a one-off survey questionnaire method.

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Discussion of findings
The results of the application of the Delphi method are discussed within four dimensions:
culture, academia, industry, and public policy.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Delphi method
The Delphi method is an iterative process that collects the anonymous judgments of
experts using a series of data collection and analysis techniques interspersed with
feedback. It is suitable as a research instrument when there is incomplete knowledge
about a problem or phenomenon, and it works best when the goal is to improve our
understanding of problems, opportunities, and solutions or develop forecasts (Skulmoski
et al., 2007).
The iterative process of the Delphi method starts with the creation of a questionnaire,
which is administered to a panel of stakeholders. Then, feedback is requested, and the
questionnaire is updated based on the feedback. This process is executed several times
until consensus is reached, as depicted in Figure 2.

Create
Questionnaire

Consolidate Administer
Feedback Questionnaire

Collect
Feedback

Figure 2. Iterative process of the Delphi method

DATA COLLECTION THROUGH DELPHI METHOD

Development of questionnaire
It is of paramount importance that the panel of experts understand the broad context
within which the questionnaire is designed (Aigbavboa, 2015). Table 1 shows the Delphi
question formulation.

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 Table 1. Delphi question formulation

Key Delphi questions Phrasing for the study

What do you consider as the most This study was initiated due to the belief that the
important challenges that the Peruvian community of geotechnical earthquake
Peruvian community of geotechnical engineering is lagging behind the structural
earthquake engineering is currently earthquake engineering community.
facing in fully complying with the
design philosophy suggested by ISO
3010?
The results of this study will enable the Peruvian
How will the results from this branch of the Earthquake Geotechnical
Delphi study influence the Peruvian Engineering and Associated Problems (Technical
community of geotechnical Committee 203 of the ISSMGE4) to develop an
earthquake engineering? improvement plan involving academics,
practitioners, and policymakers

Delphi expert panel selection

In this report, “experts” are defined as a panel of informed individuals. The selection of
experts was based on compliance with at least five of the following criteria:
1. Residency: Individual has lived in Peru for over 10 years.
2. Knowledge and experience: Individual has over 5 years of experience in
geotechnical engineering with a focus on earthquake issues.
3. Academic qualification: Individual received an academic degree in civil
engineering, geology, or geophysics.
4. Influence: Individual holds a leadership position in an academic institution,
private company, or public institution related to geotechnical engineering.
5. Research: Individual has published at least one peer-reviewed paper on
geotechnical earthquake engineering.
6. Teaching: Individual has served as an instructor of geotechnical engineering.
7. Membership of a professional body: Individual is s part of a Peruvian or
international professional body of civil engineering, geology, or geophysics.
8. Individual is willing to be part of the Delphi study.
Based on the aforementioned criteria, 20 participants were selected, including
professors of geotechnical engineering (4), designers and project managers from
consulting companies (12), and members of regulatory agencies of the government (4).

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ISSMGE: International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

7
Conducting the Delphi iterations
A Delphi questionnaire was electronically sent to all the experts and consensus reached
after two rounds.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Only 14 experts were able to complete the study. The answers were divided among four
dimensions: cultural, academic, industry and policy. The results are as follows:
• Culture
o There is a lack of a culture of collaboration between consulting companies,
universities, and research centers for carrying out research, technological
development, and innovation (R+D+i) projects. So far, only two research
grants have been awarded by CONCYTEC 5 to study geotechnical
earthquake engineering problems.
o There is no active committee of earthquake geotechnical engineers to
promote and facilitate knowledge exchanges across a broad group of
professionals from academia and industry to ensure rapid dissemination of
the newest developments in the state of the art and practice.
o Financial managers, who have the final decision regarding design criteria,
neglect the need for further engineering analysis in many cases.
• Academy
o There is a lack of research centers with advanced equipment for
technological development. There is no equipment for large-strain cyclic
tests in Peru (the cyclic device of CISMID has been broken for over 5
years). Further, there is no equipment for model testing such as nor
geotechnical shaking tables (shaking tables are available in two
universities in Lima but only for structural engineering research).
o There is a lack of adequate characterization of the seismic hazard of Peru
in terms of the probable maximum accelerations and time history records
for design. The seismic hazard map provided by the national code for
seismic design and the studies carried out for specific projects use foreign
predictive laws, which were developed for earthquakes with different
generation mechanisms. New predictive laws based on the Peruvian
seismotectonic are required.
o Strong graduate programs with an emphasis on geotechnical earthquake
engineering are scarce. Only two universities in Lima offer part-time
master’s degrees in geotechnics, and there is only one specialization
course, but it is focused on structural engineering. Furthermore, the
curriculum of the courses is outdated.
o There is a lack of full-time professors in universities to carry out research
projects as most of them are engaged in private consulting activities.

5
CONCYTEC: Peruvian National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation

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 • Industry
o Only a handful of professionals are trained in the use of advanced
geotechnical design software. This is because the trainings provided by
software developers are very expensive and take place only once or twice
a year.
o There is a dearth of efficient and modern laboratories for the
characterization of Peruvian soil properties. The University of Lima has
recently acquired modern laboratory equipment, but it’s focus is mainly on
rock materials and not soils. Advanced tests are sent to foreign
laboratories.
o There is a lack of specialists in large-scale engineering projects. Most
mining Engineers of Record (EoR) responsible for the safety of tailings
dams are foreigners.
• Policy
o The Peruvian code for seismic design focuses mainly on the structural
engineering of concrete and steel structures, leaving out geotechnical
structures such as embankment and tailings dams. Therefore, foreign
codes were adopted, which are only guides and lack legality in Peru. This
generated delays and cost overruns in the case of the underground Lima
Metro Line 2 project, since it was not clear about the criteria to be used
during the earthquake-resistant design.
o There is no geotechnical design code for mining projects, only a guide
created by MINEM 6 in 1996, which is insufficient for the scale of the
projects currently being carried out, such as tailings dams of massive
heights,

CONCLUSIONS
The philosophy of design proposed by the ISO 3010 is currently used in the Peruvian
code for seismic design. This philosophy divides earthquakes into two categories: in level
1 earthquakes, no damage is allowed, whereas in level 2 earthquakes, limited damage is
allowed but no fatal damage or collapse. However, the Peruvian community of
geotechnical earthquake engineering is facing several challenges in fully complying with
this philosophy. This report aimed to identify those challenges by using the Delphi
method within a qualitative constructivist approach of research. The report presented a
brief summary of the evolution of geotechnical earthquake engineering as a subdiscipline
of civil engineering. The summary stated that earthquakes have affected the Peruvian
economy since the time of the Incas, passing through the colonial era, and modern
techniques were only adopted after the catastrophic earthquake in Ancash that killed over
70,000 people.
A panel of 20 academic experts, practitioners, and government agents was selected, of
which 14 participated in the Delphi method. The results of the iterative cycles were

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MINEM: Peruvian Ministry of Mines and Energy

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grouped into four dimensions: culture, academia, industry, and policies. The following
challenges were found:
• Culture: lack of joint ventures to carry out R+D+i projects involving all the
stakeholders and an active committee of earthquake geotechnical engineers to
enhance knowledge management.
• Academy: research centers with cutting-edge equipment to carry out research,
such as geotechnical shaking tables or centrifuge equipment, are scarce. There are
only shaking tables for structural earthquake engineering research.
• Industry: lack of Peruvian professionals specialized in the use of advanced
geotechnical modeling software and laboratories with modern testing equipment.
• Policy: code for seismic design focuses more on structural engineering than
geotechnical engineering. Furthermore, the design codes for mining structures,
such as tailings dams, date from 1996, and it is necessary to use foreign codes that
only function as guides and are not considered law.
The results of this study can be used as a diagnosis of the current status of the
geotechnical earthquake engineering community in Peru. It is hoped that it enables the
Peruvian branch of the Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Associated Problems
(Technical Committee 203 of the ISSMGE) to develop an improvement plan involving
academics, practitioners, and policymakers.

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Alva, J. (2002). "Soil Dynamics (In Spanish)". 1st Ed., Graduate School of Civil
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Facilitation through Communities of Practice in Emerging Markets". 2nd Ed., IGI
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Castillo, J. and Alva, J. (1993). Seismic Hazards in Peru (In Spanish) Proc., ViI Soil
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