Liquefaction due to Earthquakes

Brandy Alger shows how liquefaction occurs due to earthquakes, using a shaketable in the geomechanics laboratory at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch.
Liquefaction was a huge problem during the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2010 to 2011, with thousands of homes rendered uninhabitable as a result. Where once there were houses is now a large expanse of grass, trees and abandoned streets in the Red Zone of Christchurch
Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE ( www.quakecore.nz/ ) is a collaboration of earthquake researchers that together constitute the New Zealand Centre for Earthquake Resilience.
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[@retropipes8863]

Cool demo, Brandy! Liquefaction is an amazing and dangerous phenomenon.

[@michaeloconnor7786]

Great little video Brandy. Lived in Christchurch back when the earthquakes hit.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks!

[@CaiGwatkin]

I may not have been grateful enough to have lived in an area that was not redzoned after the quakes, that does seem so bizarre. Thanks for the demonstration of liquefaction, quite easy to understand :)

[@sixthsenseamelia4695]

🌱🌏💚 Hopefully this time lessons are learned from the past. 2011 - 2011 isnt the first time large eqs have occurred in the Christchurch/Canterbury region. Japan builds on reclaimed land prone to liquefaction, their modern buildings withstand comparatively similar size & depth eqs. Houses/buildings with solid concrete floor slabs are a dumb idea in any earthquake prone region in NZ.

[@jacobcreech4382]

Cool to see Dick’s name pop up on some of these images. He was a cousin of mine, and a very interesting person to talk with. RIP.

[@LENZ5369]

Either my memory is really bad or the eng buildings got a pretty serious reno in the last few years.

[@OutThereLearning]

Your memory is doing fine! 🙂

[@susanl7514]

Isn't it possible for some soils to behave as if "liquefaction" had occurred, but without the presence of water? Their molecular structure collapses? I heard this decades ago. Cheers.

[@theunknownunknowns5168]

My childhood community looks exactly like that too, but it wasn't a earthquake it was the Rogernomics neoliberalism, more devastating than a earthquake.
But liquefaction, is it the same term used when you leave your car motor running on the beach and it sinks into the wet sand?

[@simoncollins69]

same exact thing but smaller. it's the vibrations in either instant

[@thespecialwon4797]

Great
I am wondering, wasn't there any requirement to check liquefaction risk for engineers approving and building subdivisions?

[@HAZARDMALL1]

Learn More About Quake Insurance on our channel

[@macking104]

will that red zone be converted to farm land for cows or sheep?

[@matweb8195]

It's used as a public recreational space. Well, that's what Wiki say's anyway.