Republic of the Philippines

BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Main-Campus, Tagbilaran City
Vision:A premier S&T university for the formation of world class and virtuous human resource for sustainable development in Bohol and the Country.
Mission: BISU is committed to provide quality higher education in the arts and sciences, as well as in the professional and technological fields; undertake
research and development and extension services for the sustainable development of Bohol and the country.

Lesson 5
Effects of Soils on Ground Motion

Earthquake hazards

The effects of earthquakes can be broadly grouped into two categories – primary and secondary
hazards.

• Primary hazards are caused by the direct interaction of seismic wave energy with the
ground. In most situations, this is limited to fault rupture and ground shaking or ground
motion.
• Secondary hazards are caused as a consequence of that ground shaking, such as
ground settlement, lateral ground displacement, liquefaction, landslides and rock falls,
tsunamis, floods, fires and falling debris.

Ground shaking or Ground motion

Ground motion is the movement of the earth's surface from earthquakes or explosions.
Ground motion is produced by waves that are generated by sudden slip on a fault or sudden
pressure at the explosive source and travel through the earth and along its surface.

The second primary earthquake hazard, ground shaking, is the result of rapid ground
acceleration. Ground shaking can vary over an area as a result of factors such as topography,
bedrock type and the location and orientation of the fault rupture.

These all affect the way the seismic waves travel through the ground. If an earthquake generates
enough shaking intensity, built structures can be severely damaged and cliffs and sloping ground
can be temporarily or permanently destabilized. In large earthquakes, whole districts can be
devastated by the consequences of ground shaking.

• Ground displacement is how far the surface moves during the earthquake. It can cause
the ground to change position in both horizontal and vertical directions and move relative
to objects or other areas of land nearby.

• Ground velocity is a measure of how quickly the ground was displaced – the speed and
direction that the ground moved to get from its original location to its new location. Ground
that moves with a higher velocity is also displaced more quickly.

• Ground acceleration is a measure of how quickly the ground changes velocity during the
earthquake. Ground acceleration is responsible for the classic earthquake shaking effect
where the ground rapidly changes direction in a violent back and forward and up and down
motion.

Displacement, velocity and acceleration are also responsible for several secondary effects on the
ground, including liquefaction, settlement and lateral movement, which can compromise the soil’s
ability to support objects on the surface.
Structural stress

Ground shaking is also the primary way an earthquake affects buildings. The rapid acceleration
of the ground beneath the building creates inertial forces in the structure. This can cause damage
if they become too large or the building is not designed to withstand them.

Under normal conditions, a built structure is subject to steady gravitational loads. However, during an earthquake,
ground shaking can impose strong lateral loads. If the structure is not designed to withstand them, the additional
lateral loads associated with seismic shaking can cause it to fail.

Earthquake shaking causes movement on all three principal axes (up and down, left and right,
forward and back). Lateral movement in the horizontal plane (left and right, forward and back) can
place additional stress on structural elements normally intended to only carry vertical loads, such
as walls, columns and beams.

Several factors influence the degree of damage a building can sustain

when subjected to ground shaking. (BRANZ)
 In buildings, these elements are usually designed to withstand an appropriate degree of lateral
movement, such as that caused by wind or seismic loading. However, if the earthquake shaking
force exceeds the downward force, in beams, for example, due to a combination of gravity and
vertical earthquake acceleration, it may place the element under excessive stress.

When this occurs, unreinforced structures may lose integrity and distort, crack or collapse.
Elements that do not undergo a catastrophic failure may still be weakened, reducing their ability to
carry their original design loads.

Effects of Earthquakes
Buildings In Earthquakes
The way the building is constructed and your position in the building can have an effect on the
shaking you feel during an earthquake. This means you may experience an earthquake differently
from someone only a few buildings away. The type of construction also has a big effect on whether
a building is damaged in an earthquake.

Many different types of materials are used in building construction, and the type of material and how
it is used affects how a building performs during an earthquake. These materials have a wide range
of physical properties.
• Brick masonry is very stiff but can fracture under earthquake forces.
• Wood can't support as much weight but is more flexible.
• Reinforced concrete can be made to be either very stiff or somewhat flexible depending on
how much steel reinforcement is used.

Architects and structural engineers can design buildings to resist deformation during an earthquake.
If the building is stiff and strong and only a few floors tall, the shaking you feel might not be very
different from someone standing outside. A tall building that is designed to absorb the energy of
earthquake by flexing like a tree, may have a significant amount of movement, particularly in the
upper stories. For example, in the 2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake, some people in high rises in
LA experienced motion sickness.
A wood-framed home will flex and creak so earthquake may be felt more than if you are outside, but
if the home is tied to its foundation, and has shear- wall support, it's one of the safest buildings to be
in during an earthquake.

Not all buildings, especially older buildings, are properly designed to minimize earthquake damage,
so there are additional construction issues that can affect the shaking you feel. When the ground
shifts violently in an earthquake;
1. Weak materials can fail,
2. Shear forces can bend or break unbraced walls, columns, and bridges,
3. Untethered houses can slide off their foundations, and
4. Heavy roofs can collapse.
Earthquakes release seismic wave energy that enters all structures, and depending quality of the
materials, it can cause the construction materials to break, crack, or even fail completely. Wood or
steel structures can generally withstand shaking, but brick, stone, or adobe is more prone to failure.
A devastating example of that happened during the 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake where inferior mortar
played major role in structural failure.

Centuries-old unreinforced masonry buildings are among the most vulnerable throughout the world.
Heavy tile roofs can fail catastrophically. Also susceptible to failure are structures with mortared-
brick, or stone facades. The flexible wood and/or steel frames constructed during the rapid expansion
of the early 1900's weren't designed to hold these heavy facades during earthquake shaking, which
is why we often see them peel away during an earthquake.
For example, the Nisqually earthquake in Washington witnessed the collapse of brick walls in Seattle
and Olympia. Brick chimneys also tend to be brittle and can collapse in earthquakes, even if the rest
of a wood-framed house is undamaged.

Older houses that aren't attached to their foundations sometimes slide off and are damaged or even
collapse. Buildings that are tied to their foundations but lack sufficient side to side strength,
particularly in the lowest floors, can shear sideways with strong or prolonged shaking. Homes can
be made safer by ensuring they are tied to their foundations, and all upper floors where possible and
on the first floor, by installing plywood sheeting or diagonal bracing.

Prime examples of weak, or soft stories are the wood-frame apartment buildings built above carports,
that collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. These open carports
lacked the bracing needed to resist the side-to-side forces, called sheer forces, that occur during an
earthquake.
A number of techniques can be used to help reduce the damage to structures during an earthquake.
When designing larger buildings, engineers must first calculate the earthquake forces that are likely
to be exerted on a building during the lifetime of the building. To do that they use building codes that
are based on seismic hazard estimates developed by geoscientists, such as the National Seismic
Hazard Map.

Then they consider the strategies appropriate for that expected level of shaking. For example,
diagonal shear bracing is important for larger buildings and while the bracing is usually hidden once
the building is complete, it is sometimes on display on the outside of the building.

For large buildings there are additional techniques to reduce the potential damage to buildings and
their contents. Base isolation essentially puts a building on horizontal shock absorbers, which
reduces the side-to-side sway of a structure. This reduces the forces that the building and its contents
experience during earthquake. Base isolation allows the foundation to move but protects everything
above the foundation when the ground moves suddenly.
"Tuned mass dampers" can counteract the amount of sway during prolonged ground shaking. Here
we see two buildings, one with a fixed damper. They appear to oscillate similarly following an
earthquake. If the damper on the right is free to move, we see that the mass counteracts the force
from the seismic waves by absorbing kinetic from the system. Dampers like this are engineered
specifically to accommodate the height, weight, and stiffness of the structure.

An unusual example is the iconic structure at the LAX Airport, which had a 1200-ton mass damper
installed on the roof to counteract the expected. building response during an earthquake.

Earthquake-resistant buildings save lives by using some of the design principles such as cross
bracing, shear walls, and shock absorbers. If you feel the bump of an earthquake, it is important to
know that the first waves may not be the strongest. Take immediate actions to "Drop, Cover, and
Hold," before strong shaking arrives, which can save lives and reduce the risk of injury.

Liquefaction

Liquefaction takes place when loosely packed, water-logged sediments at or near the ground
surface lose their strength in response to strong ground shaking. Liquefaction occurring beneath
buildings and other structures can cause major damage during earthquakes.

Liquefaction can occur when seismic shaking agitates saturated ground material of certain types.
Buildings and other surface structures supported by liquefied ground can subside or tilt over.
Underground hollow structures, such as pipes and tanks, may rise to the surface due to buoyancy
forces.

Although there are no standardized criteria to identify liquefiable soil, typically, the process that
causes liquefaction begins when four key elements are present:

1. Soil particles are loose and cohesion less and will move closer together when shaken
2. Soil particles are sized between coarse silt to fine sand approximately 0.01–1.00 mm in
diameter. (The effect has been observed in other soils under specific conditions.)
3. Ground is saturated (particularly material that is below the water table).
4. Sufficient shaking occurs (the level of shaking to cause liquefaction depends on several
site-specific factors).

When all four conditions are present, the loose material begins to compress under the force of
gravity, closing the spaces between the grains. However, the water already occupying the spaces
resists the change, and pressure begins to build in the material. Eventually, the pressure rises
enough that the grains become buoyant and float in the water. At this point, the soil has completely
lost its strength. Soil that was solid begins to act like a liquid.

With lower bearing strength, liquefied soil can no longer support the same amount of weight as it
did when it was solid. Objects on the surface, such as buildings, may partially settle or sink into
the liquefied soil, causing damage to building foundations and the structure that they support.

Where the liquefied soil lies below a continuous large weight, such as a solid layer of soil, the
pressure can force the liquefied soil upwards. This is forced through small fissures and
weaknesses in the solid layer, causing small geysers (sometimes known as sand boils or ejecta)
of silt, sand and groundwater. In severe cases, this can also result in temporary surface flooding.

Soil can remain liquefied for several hours after the earthquake shaking has stopped, although it
will gradually solidify and regain bearing strength as the pressure within the material disperses.

Liquefaction also contributes to other ground effects, such as settlement and lateral spread.

Liquefaction can cause lateral spreading beside the banks of rivers and waterways. Cracks open up along the banks,
which can extend back on to properties and building foundations.

During liquefaction, sand, silt and water is forced up towards the surface by pressure below ground. In some cases,
the material is forced through small cracks and collects on the surface to form sand boils.
Liquefied ground has little strength when compared to other land. Heavy objects, such as power poles, cars and
buildings, can topple or sink into the liquefied soil.