Abstract:
Soil Liquefaction is a process, where granular soils below the ground water table
temporarily lose its strength and behaved as a viscous fluid rather than a solid. The porewater
pressure is suddenly increased during an earthquake due to the cyclic loading. The increased
porewater pressure is forced the soil particles to suspend in water. As a result, the buildings, utility
services, natural substances and other structures are collapsed causing severe damage to the people
and the nature. In Sri Lanka, it is rare to find the historical data of liquefaction or related incidents.
Recent studies demonstrated that there is a potential for liquefaction in some places of the island. It
could be evaluated by using the basic geotechnical investigation data, according to the simplified
procedure proposed by Seed and Idriss (1971). This paper is intended to evaluate the liquefaction
potential in Sri Lanka by identifying the liquefiable layer thickness, using an extensive geotechnical
investigation data base. As per the analysis 384 locations were identified as susceptible for liquefaction
with various layer thicknesses out of 3282 locations analysed. Further, the analysis has extended for
varied ground water table.
