Although much of the recent focus is on the 2016 Kaikoura event, we want to provide a brief update for the NZ geotechnical and geological community about our project: “Improving our Understanding of Liquefaction-Induced Displacements: Integration of Remote Sensing Data and Field Data from the 2010/2011 New Zealand Earthquakes”, which is funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). This project focuses on lateral spread hazard in Christchurch from the Canterbury Earthquake sequence. The majority of the homes in the “red zone” were impacted by lateral spreading so understanding lateral spread is of critical importance for future events not only in NZ but globally.
During 2016 we undertook two field investigations in and around the “red zone” in Christchurch which including trenching, boreholes, CPT, geophysics, field mapping, lab work, and dating, combined with remote sensing. We are currently compiling this information and developing site models that we feel will change the way we look at lateral spread globally and can be used for enhanced predictive mapping and hazard avoidance. Here is a photo from one of the trenching campaigns of a trench floor showing liquefaction sand dikes that verge on “Geo-Art”.
We will present the results of our work in NZ and globally.
