Gravelly soils that liquefied during 2008 Wenchuan, China earthquake, Ms=8.0

Field investigations following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Ms=8.0) identified 118 liquefaction sites nearly all of which are underlain by gravelly sediment in the Chengdu Plain and adjacent Mianyang area. Field studies, including core drilling, dynamic penetration tests (DPT), and multiple channel analysis of surface wave velocity tests (MASW) for measurement of shear wave velocities, reveal the following: (1) Sand boils and ground fissures, indicative of liquefaction, occurred across hundreds of square kilometers affecting 120 villages, 8 schools and 5 factories. (2) The Chengdu plain is underlain by sandy gravels ranging in thickness up to 540 m; loose upper layers within the gravels beds liquefied. (3) Mean grain sizes for gravelly layers that liquefied range from 1 mm to more than 30 mm. (4) Shear wave velocities in gravels that liquefied range up to 250 m/s. (5) A 50% probability curve, developed from logistic procedures, correctly bounds all but four data points for the 47 compiled Vs data.