Assessment of SPT-Based Liquefaction Potential of Erbaa (Tokat), Turkey

Turkey is one of the earthquake prone countries in the world. The seismicity of the northern part of Turkey is mainly controlled by active North Anatolian Fault Zone. Several earthquakes and earthquake triggered hazards occurred by the tectonic activity of this fault zone. In recent past, 1999 Adapazari earthquake (Mw=7.4) has caused several fatalities in the western part of this fault zone. One of the most important observations after the earthquake was the liquefaction-related damages of the buildings. In this study, the liquefaction potential of Erbaa (Tokat) settlement area in Turkey, located partly on an alluvial plain of Kelkit river within the North Anatolian Fault Zone has been evaluated. Several boreholes were drilled and laboratory tests were performed on soil samples. Liquefaction analysis was performed by using SPT-based methods suggested by Youd et al. (2001), Cetin et al. (2004), and Idriss and Boulanger (2006). For the analysis, an earthquake magnitude of Mw=7.4 and the different peak ground acceleration (PGA) values were considered. The distribution of the liquefaction potential areas was presented on the maps. Based on the analysis, the loose granular materials of alluvium are likely to liquefy in case of occurrence of large magnitude earthquake with high PGA value.