Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spreading in Near-Fault Regions during the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan Earthquake

We document and analyze incidents of liquefaction-induced lateral ground deformation at five sites located in the near-fault region of the 1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan earthquake. Each of the lateral spreads involved cyclic mobility of young alluvial soils towards a free face at creek channels. In each case, the lateral spreading produced relatively modest lateral displacements (approximately 10–200 cm) in parts of the spreads not immediately adjacent to channel slopes. For each site, we present displacement vectors across the spread features, which are based on mapping performed within three weeks of the earthquake. We review the results of detailed subsurface exploration conducted at each site, including cone penetration test soundings, borings with standard penetration testing, and laboratory index tests. We back-analyze the field displacements using recent empirical and semiempirical models and find that the models generally overestimate the observed ground displacements. Possible causes of the modelsʹ overprediction bias include partial drainage of the liquefied soils during shaking, low but measurable plasticity of some of the soilsʹ fines fraction, and the absence of nonspread sites in the empirical databases used to develop existing empirical and semi-empirical lateral spread displacement prediction models.