Ground motion estimation at the farthest liquefaction site during the 2011 off the pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake

Abstract Serious damage due to soil liquefaction occurred in a wide area of the Tohoku and the Kanto regions in Japan during 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake (MW 9.0). The farthest liquefied site from the epicenter of the 2011 main shock is Ikenouchi, Minamiboso City, whose epicentral distance is approximately 440 km. Evaluation of strong ground motions at Ikenouchi is very important to understand why liquefaction was observed in such a far site. For this purpose, in-situ geotechnical investigations including aftershock observation were carried out at Ikenouchi. Then, the ground motions at Ikenouchi during the 2011 main shock was estimated based on the site-effect substitution method considering the microtremor H/V spectral ratios and the aftershock observation results. Finally, 3-D effective stress analyses were carried out using a FEM code ‘FLIP’ to understand how site-specific characteristics of strong ground motions affected the behavior of the ground including liquefaction. A striking feature of the estimated waveforms at the target site is that the waveforms include a much larger number of cycles compared to the records at permanent observation stations around the target site. Such a site-specific feature of strong ground motions was one of the main causes of the occurrence of liquefaction 440 km away from the epicenter. The result suggests the importance of taking into account not only soil properties but also site-specific characteristics of strong ground motions for a rational assessment of liquefaction for future large earthquakes.