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Earthquake-Induced Ground Failure in Western Wa, Presented at 880412-15 Meeting in Olympia,Wa
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Issue date: 04/12/1988
From: Chleborad A, Schuster R
INTERIOR, DEPT. OF, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
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EARTHQUAKE-INDUCED GROUND FAILURE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON by Robert L. Schuster and Alan F. Chleborad U.S. Geological Survey Golden, Colorado i

INTRODUCTION 5

j Ground failure is generally regarded as a permanent disruption of geologic materials at the ground surface. For this paper, we will consider

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earthquake-induced ground f ailure to includes (1) slope failures (landslides) on moderate to steep slopes, (2) surface disruption or settlement due to soll

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liquef action, and (3) minor surface cracking. These types of earthquake-ind"ced ground failure destroy or damage residential and industrial structures anc cransportation facilities: in addition, earthquake-induced landslides have caused great numbers of casualties and severe negative impacts on agricultuaal l

and forest lands and on the quality of water in rivers and streams.

Several catastrophic examples of earthquake-induced ground failure can be l

cited. In 1920, as many as 100,000 people were killed by earthquake-triggered loess landslides in Gansu rovince, China (Close and McCormick,1922: Vaanes,

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1978).

In 1949, a M 7 5 earthquake in the Tien Shan Mountains of Soviet Tadthikistan triggered a series of massive slides and debris flows that buried j

some 33 population centers, killing from 12,000 (Jaroff, 1977) to 20,000 j

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(Wessen and Wesson,1975) residents. Youd (1978) estimated that ground f ailure caused 60 percent of the $300 million total damage from the 1964 l

Alaska earthquake. Ground-failure (primarily due to liquefaction) damage from the 1964 Niigata, Japan, earthquake was estimated at $800 million (Lee and l

t others, 1977).

In 1970, a M 7.75 quake off the coast of Peru triggered a debris avalanche on the slopes of Mount Muascaran in the Cordillera Blanca, buaying the towns of Yungay and Aanrahlrea and killint more than 18,000 people i

(Plarker and others, 1971).

In March 1987, landslides (and associated floods) triggered by a M 6.9 earthquake in eastern Ecuador killed an estimated 1,000-

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2,000 peoples destruction of 16 miles of the TransEcuadorian oil pipeline t

by these landslides and floods resulted in economic losssa totaling about

$1 billion (Crespo and others,1987).

i Ground f ailures due to historic earthquakes in western Washington have i

result % in only a few deaths, but have caused significant damage over large areas (Hopper, 1981; Keefer, 1983: Grant, 1986). The 1949 Olympia earthquake scattered ground f ailures over an area of approximately 11,000 a12 (rgg, g),

and the 1965 Seattle-Tgeoma earthquake triggered ground f ailures within an area of about 8,000 mi (fig. 2).

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This pape* discusses the types and distribution of ground failure that have occurred due to historic earthquakes in western Washington, with emphasis j

on landslides and on ground f ailures resulting free liquefaction, whien are the types that have caused the greatest amounts of damage.

In addition, it i

briefly reviews studies planned by U.S. Geological Survey scientlSts and engineers relating to earthquake-induced ground failure in the area.

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1949, Olppia earthquake (modified from Xeeter.1983).

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SLOPE FAILURES (LANDSLIDES)

Keefer (1984) has documented data on slope failures caused by 40 major earthquakes in many parts of the world. His studies have shown that the most abundant types of earthquake-induced landslides have been rock falls and soil and rock slides. The greatest losses of life have been due to rock avalanches, rapid soil flows, and rock f alls. According to Keefer's study the i

smallest earthquakes that cause specific types of landslides are as follows:

I (1) H 4.0: rock falls, rock slides, soil falls, and disrupted soil slides (2) t M 4.5: soil slumps and soil block slides (3) M 5.0: rock slumps, rock block i

slides, slow earthflows, soil lateral spreads, rapid soil flows, and subaqeous j

lands 11 dest (4) M 6.0: rock avalanches, and (5) M 6.5: soil avalanches.

j As noted by Noson and others (in press), 14 earthquakes triggered I

landslides in the State of Washington between 1872 and 1980. The greatest landslide activity was recorded as a result of the M 7.1 Olympia earthquake of April, 13, 194 9, which had a focal depth of 40 miles (Nutt11.1952).

i Landslides occurred as far as 110 alles from tht epicenter (Keefer.1983).

The largest landslide (volume about 650,000 3

yd ) occurred in a section of sand and gravel that overlies clay in a bluff forming the eastern shore of the Tacoma Narrows (fig. 3). Many smaller landslides occurred from Seattle south i

to Portland.

Although Keefer's (1983) review of published accounts noted a total of only 23 landslides triggered by the 1949 earthquake, current studies i

by the authors indicate that the number of landslides was considerably under-reported at the time of the quake.

In the Cascade Range, these slope f ailures j

consisted primarily of rock falls and rock slides.

In the Puget Trough i

(lowlands from Puget Sound to the Willamette Valley of northern Oregon).

I nu=erous minor soil and rock slides occurred. Many of these occurred in fills and cuts situated in highway and railroad corridors.

These failures were particularly common where the corridors were located along the shores of rivers or lakes. Sidehill embankments often failed at the contacts with their i

foundation slopes. Downslope movement in such f ailures ranged from only a few l

inches to tens of feet. M0st of the f ailed embankments were brought back to j

grade by maintenance crews soon af ter the earthquake.

The 1965 M 6.5 Seattle-Taccea earthquake caused significant landslide l

acti vity in the Puget Sound a.*ea.

Utilizing published accounts. Keefer (1983)

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noted 24 individual landslides located as far as 60 elles from the epicenter.

As was the case for tne 1949 earthquake, recent study by the

,j authors indicates that landslide occurrences were significantly under-reporte

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at the time of the quake. There were no large landslides, such as the 1949 Tacena Narrows slide, but there were many small slips and sitaps. As was the i

case for the 1949 earthquake, slope failures in fills and cuts of 1,

transportation corridors were ccremen (figs. 4 and 5).

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j Much of the damage related to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was j

caused cy a rocks 11de/ debris avalanche (fig) landslide (the world's large

6) triggered by a M 5 earthquake assoelated with the eruption.

This 0.62 mi j

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historic landslide) swept 16 mi down the valley of the North Fork Toutle River, destroying public and private buildings State Highway 504. U.S. Forest j

I Service and logging company roads, and several bridges (Schuster.1983).

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Most of the landslides triggered by the 1949 and 1965 earthquakes

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occurred in areas of low population density.

Because of increased residential i

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Figure 3 The April 16, 1949, landslide at the Tacoma Narrows. This i

landslide is considered to have been triggered by the Olympia earthquake, I

which occurred 3 days before the slide (Vogel,1949).

(Photograph by j

i permission of Associated Press.)

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Figure 8 Da= age to 1)nion Pacific Railroad tracks in Olympia due to the 1965 i(

Seattle-Tacoma earthquake.

(Photog *aph by G. W. Thorsen, Washington Department of Natu*al Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resourcec.)

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Damage to Deschutes Parkway, Olympia, due to the 1965 seattle-l Tac:ca earthquake. The Parkway was constructed on granular till placed in j

Capitol 1.ake; f ailuae was probably due to liquef action.

(Photograph by G. W.

Thorsen, Washington Department of Natuaal Resources, Division of Geology and i

arth Rescuaces.)

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Debri.s avalanche in the upper valley of the North Ferk Toutle 3

Rivea. This landslide was triggered by a M 5 earthquake assoelated with the j

May 1990 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

(Photograph by R. M. Krir el, U.S.

j Geological Suavey.)

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development of hillside slopes in western Washington since 1965, significant losses due to earthquake-induced slope failures can be expected from future f

earthquakes in the area (Grant, 1986).

This will be particularly true for l

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i earthquakes of greater magnitude, shallower focus, or longer duration than those that occurred in 1949 and 1965.

In addition, greater earthquake-induced slope-f ailure activity is to be expected when the quakes occur at times of the year when heavy, prolonged precipitation or melting snow results in

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exceptionally high ground-water levels and saturated soils.

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CROUND, FAILURE ASSOCIATED WITH LIQUEFACTION As related to earthquakes, liquefaction is the process by which saturated f

cohesionless soils change from a solid state to a liquefied state as a j

consequence of dynamic loading that increases pore pressres and reduces effective stress (Youd,1978).

Liquefaction by itself is not ground f ailuae however, the liquefaction process results in almost total reduction of shear strength.

This reduction can result in ground failure of several types: the l

most comon are (1) lateral spreads, (2) flow failures, and (3) less of j

bearing capacity. As noted above, the first two are, in effect, varieties of 1

landslides, in that they occur on slopes due to reduction of shear strength.

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Lateral spreads due to earthquakes involve lateral dispacement of large su-ficial blocks of soll as a result of liquefaction in subsuarace layers (Comittee on Earthquake Engineering, 1985). They generally develop on very l

j gentle slopes (most commonly between 0 3' and 3*) and move toward a free face, j

such as an incised stream channel. Lateral displacements range up to several feet, and, in particularly susceptible conditions, to several tens of feet,

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accompanied by ground cracking and differential vertical dispacement (Youd,

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1978). Lateral spreads of ten disrupt the foundations of buildings or other i

structures, ruptuae pipelines and other utilities in the failure mass, and i

compress engineering structures crossing the toes of the failures.

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Flow failuaes are liquefaction-caused landslides that develop in loose

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saturated sands or silts on natral or man-made slopes greater than 3'

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(Co=ittee on Earthquake Engineering,1985).

Flows may consist of cenpletely liquefied soils, or of blocks of intact material riding on layers of liquefied soll.

They often displace large masses of material for many tens of feet at l

velocities ranging up to tens of miles per hour.

i An example, triggered by the 1949 Olympia earthquake, was a f a11uae of the north bank of the Cowlitz River near Randle. Washington this landslide was large enough to dam the river for a brief period (H. Derossett, Randle, Washington, oral ccernun.,1987).

l Densification and ground settlement of satrated sediments are comenly associated with and enhanced by liquefaction. Several classic examples of ground settlement caused by seismic shaking occurred in satrated sediments along the coast of Alaska due to the 1964 earthquakes at Portage. Alaska, j

settlement lowered the ground surface sufficiently so that houses and highway and railroad grades were indundated at high tide (Ccemittee on Earthquake Engineering, 1985). The 1949 Olympia earthquake caused structural damage to buildings on the Duwamish Flat in south Seattle due to settlement of saturated sed 1=ents (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,1949).

Sand boils often for= at the surface during ground settlement. They are

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formed by water venting to the g*ound surface from zones of high pore pressee 7

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i generated at shallow depth by the consolidation of silts and sands during f

seismic shaking. Sand boils occurred at t sveral locations in western

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Washington during the 1949 and 1965 earthquakes.

Loss of bearing capacity occurs when the soil supporting a building or a

i other structure liqueries and loses strength.

This process results in large soll deformations under load, allowing the structures to settle and tip. An outstanding example of loss of bearing capacity due to seismic activity resulted from the the 1964 earthquake at Niigata, Japan, where spectacular bearing f ailures occurred at the Kwangishicho apartment complex: several four-(

story buildings tipped as much as 60 degrees (ComNittee on Earthquake j

j Engineering, 1985). Minor destabilization of structures founded on saturated l

j sediments occurred in the Seattle area in the.1949 and 1965 earthquakes.

l MINOR CRACKING l

Minor cracking of the ground surface independent of the above types of

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ground f ailure is noted after nearly all major earthquakes.

Such cracks 1

seldom cause significant damage.

They were noted in many places in western l

q Washington following the 1949 and 1965 earthquakes.

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PLANNED U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RESEARCH ON EARTHQUAKE-INDUCED CROUND FAILURE

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IN WESTERN WASHINGTON I

l Ground-failuae studies planned for western Washington by U.S. Geological i

Survey scientists and engineers deal with records and effects of seismicity i

for three different time frames (1) prehistoric time (2) historic time, and (3) the futu*e. The object of each of these categories of study is to aid in l

prediction of future seismic activity and/cr to provide additional insignt j

into the characteristics and effects of ground failure from futuae i

i earthquakes. The specific objectives of these three research components are I

as follows:

l (1) To identify major paleeseismic events in western Washington by means of I

l the stratigaaphic record of earthquake-induced liquefaction and landslides, and to determine the dates of prehistoric ground f ailure using j

applicable Quaternary-dating techniques.

The search for liquefaction-

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distuabed strata will focus on the Holocene stratigraphic record, which is 5

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mainly concentrated on the valley floors of large rivers. The estuaries

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of these rivers are the areas that have been most susceptible to

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liquef action-caused ground failuae during Holocene timo. Study of

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earthquake-induced landslides will be less constrained geographically than l

the study of features due to paleoliquefaction. The principal requisites

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for selecting landslides for study ge that they bei (a) earthquake-

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induced. (b) amenable to dating by C, lichonemetry, or other suitable

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Quaternary-dating techniques, and (c) relatively accessible.

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(2) To define the distribution and characteristics of historic (1872 and j

later) earthquake-induced ground f ailure (with emphasis on landslides and j

laquefaction-asseciated ground failure) in western Washington as a step in

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better understanding what types of ground failure have occurred due to l

prehistoric earthquakes and what types can be expected in the future.

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Information obtained on historic ground f ailure will also be of value in l

i further defining the characteristics of historic earthquakes in the area (3) To produce susceptibility maps for landslides and liquef action-associated

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ground f ailure for selected metropolitan areas of western Washington, i

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques will be utilized in this effort.

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The need for such mapping is clearly indicated by the occurence in the Puget Sound region of numerous earthquake-induced ground failures related to the 1949 and 1965 earthquakes.

Initially, data will be collected on the distribution and character of earthquake-induced ground f ailuaes as indicated in the above study plans.

Subsequently, this

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information will be combined with other data on geology, hydrology, and topography, and will be manipulated using CIS technology to produce high-quality earthquake-induced ground-f ailure susceptibility maps.

R EFERENC ES Close, Upton, and McCormick, Elsie,1922, Where the mountaMs walked:

National Geographic Magazine, v. 41, no. 5, p. 445-464 Committee on Earthquake Engineering,1985. Liquefaction of soils duains earthquakes Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, National Research Council, National Academy Press Washington, D.C., 240 p.

l Crespo, E. Nyman, K. J., and O'Rourke, T. D., 1987, 1987 Ecuador earthquakes of March 5,1987:

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Special Earthquake Report 4 p.

Grant, P. W., 1986, The potential for ground f ailures in the Puget Sound area, l

in, Kitzmiller, Karla. Proceedings of Conference XXXIII A Workshop on i

Earthquake Hazards in the Puget Sound Washington Area. October 29-31, 1985, Seattle, Washington:

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-253, p. 134-138.

Hopper, M. G.,1981, A study of liquefaction and other typ(s of earthquake-f induced gaound failures in the Puget Sound, Washington, region:

M.S.

t thesis, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg,131 p.

i Jareff, Leon,1977. Forecasting the earth's convulsions, i_n, Nature / science annual, 1977 edition:

Time / Life Books, New York, p. 21-33 Keefer. D. K.,1983, Landslides, soil liquefaction, and related ground 1

failures in Puget Sound Earthquakes,1_n, Jacobson, Muriel, compiler, Proceedings of Workshop XIV, Earthquake Hazaads of the Puget Sound Region, Washington,13-15 October 1980 Lake Wilderness Washington:

U.S.

j Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-19, p. 200-299.

Keefer D.

K.,

1984 Lancs11 des caused by earthquakes:

Geological Society of l

America Bulletin, v. 95, p. 406-412.

t Lee, K. L., Marcuson, W. F., III. Stokoe, K. H., II, and Yokel, F. Y.,1977, Research needs and priorities for geotechnical earthquake engineering applications: Report of workshop at the University of Texas, Austin, NSF j

i Grant No. AEN77-09861,134 p.

i Noson, L.

L., Qamar, Anthony, and Thorsen, G. W., in press, Washington State

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earthquake hazards:

Washington Department of Natural Resources. Division 6

of Geology and Earth Resources.

Nutt11, O. W., 1952. The western Washington earthquake of April 13, 1949:

Seismological Soc!*ty of America Bulletin, v. 42, no.1, p. 21-28.

Plaf ker, George ErPssen, G.

E., and Fernandez Concha, Jaime,1971, Geological aspects of the May 31, 1970 Peru earthquake: Seismological Society of America Bulletin, v. 61, no. 3, p. 543-578.

l Schuster R. L.,1983. Engineering aspects of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruptions:

Bulletin of tre Association of Engineering Geologists, v. 20, l

p.125-143.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,1949, Report on damage resulting from earthquake i

of 13 April 1949: Seattle District, Washington, 28 p.

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Varnes D.

J.,

1978, Slope movement types and processes, 3 Schuster, R.

L.,

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and Kri:ek, R.

J., eds., Landslides -- analysis and controla Transportation Research Board Special Report 176, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.,

p. 12-33 Vogel, Elmer,1949 Cliff topples into Sound:

Tacoma News Tribune April 18, p.

1, 2.

Wesson, C. V.

K., and Wesson, R. L.,1975, Odyssey to Tadzhi k -- an American family joins a Soviet seismological expedition:

U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Information Bulletin, v.

7., no.1, January-February, p. 8-16.

Youd, T. L.,1978, Major cause of earthquake damage is ground faileen Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, v. 48, no. 4, p. 47-51.

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