An overview of geotechnical and lifeline earthquake engineering

This paper presents an overview of lifeline systems and geotechnical earthquake hazards. Sources of permanent ground deformation (PGD) are reviewed with reference to recent North American and Japanese earthquakes. Analytical models are discussed for soil-structure interaction in response to PGD caused by surface faulting, liquefaction, and landslides. Sources of transient ground deformation (TGD) are also reviewed, and attention is focused on near source motion, surface wave effects in sedimentary basins, and local sediment-filled valleys (widths and depths of several hundred and several tens of meters, respectively) that may vibrate relative to adjacent, relatively rigid boundaries, causing large strains near valley margins. Local, shallow basins with liquefiable soil are also prone to similar types of incoherent motion, and simplified models are proposed for evaluating ground strains and buried pipeline response under these conditions. The paper concludes by reviewing global aspects of geotechnical and lifeline performance, including geographical information systems (GIS) and photogrammetric analysis of pre- and post-earthquake stereo-pair air photos. Examples of photogrammetric measurements and GIS are used to show system-wide interactions among lifelines and geotechnical hazards.