Special LectureMechanical behavior and 

earthquake‐induced failures of volcanic soils in Japan

MIURA, SeiichiGraduate School of Engineering Hokkaido University, Japan

MIURA, SeiichiGraduate School of Engineering Hokkaido University, Japan

2nd ICTG September 10-12, 2012Sapporo, Japan

１

2012 Google 

The Japanese Islands

Tohoku

Hokkaido

2

Recent great earthquakes in Japan

Y/M/D NAME M

2000.10.06 Tottori Ken Seibu 7.3

2001.03.24 Geiyo 6.7

2003.05.26 Sanriku Minami 7.1

2003.07.26 Miyagiken Hokubu 6.4

2003.09.26 2003Tokachioki 8.0

2004.10.23 Niigata Ken Chuetu 6.8

2005.03.20Fukuoka Ken Seihou

Oki 7.0

2007.03.25 Noto Peninsula 6.9

2007.07.16 Niigata Ken Chuetu Oki 6.8

2008.06.14 Iwate・Miyagi Nairiku 7.2

2011.03.11 Tohoku Pacific 9.0

Y/M/D NAME M

1964.06.16 Niigata 7.51968.05.16 Tokachioki 7.9

1973.06.17Nemuro Peninsula

Oki7.4

1978.01.14 Izu Ooshima Kinkai 7.01978.06.12 Miyagiken Oki 7.41983.05.26 Nihon Kai Chubu 7.71993.01.15 Kushiro Oki 7.8

1993.07.12Hokkaido Nansei

Oki 7.8

1994.10.04Hokkaido Tohou

Oki8.2

1994.12.28Sanriku Haruka

Oki 7.6

1995.01.17 Hyogoken Nanbu 7.33

Volcanic deposits damaged due to recent great earthquakes in Japan 

4

Ｔhe Great East Japan Earthquakestruck Japan on March 11, 2011

(Tohoku Pacific * the Japan Meteorological Agency) Extensive Complex DisasterGigantic Earthquake，Gigantic Tsunami，Unexpected accident in Nuclear Plants

Death toll 15,861 Missing 3,018 Disaster-related death* 1,407on June 13 2012 (the Japanese National police Agency)

5

Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture（from Onagawa Town Hospital)

6

A building collapsed Onagawa Miyagi Pref.

7

A building collapsed Onagawa Miyagi Pref.

8

Failure of wharf in Port of Onagawa Miyagi Pref.

9 Minami Sanriku, Miyagi Pref. 10

Majestic seawall with height of around 10m and length 501m Tarou, Miyako city, Iwate Pref. 11

Seawalls constructedTarou, Miyako, Iwate Pref.

12

SeawallsTarou, Miyako, Iwate Pref. 13

Collapse of seawallTarou, Miyako, Iwate Pref.

14

Breakwaters fell down, Yamada Town, Iwate Pref. 15

Breakwaters collapsed, Yamada Town, Iwate Pref.16

Collapse of new houses due to slope foundation failure in the Aoba-Ku, Sendai City

17

Foundation soil in Aoba-Ku,Sendai

18

名取IC

仙台若林JCT

仙台東IC

仙台港北IC

N

仙台空港IC

Sendai Airport

Center of Sendai City

Tsunami

19

Situation of town damaged after the tsunami in Arahama, Wakabayashi‐Ku, Sendai city

20

Situation of town damaged after the tsunami in Yuriage area, Natori city, near to Sendai Airport

21

Provided by  Dr. Yokota , Soil Laboratory,  NEXCO Research Center22

Flooded area due to Tsunami estimated  bythe Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

Sendai Airport IC

Tsunami visiting to Sendai International AirportJapan Coast Guard

Tsunami visiting to Sendai International AirportJapan Coast Guard

23

Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku EarthquakeJune 14 2008 Mw=7.2 Depth 7.77kmN latitude 39 °1.79´E longitude １４０°５２．８４´

Big volcanic mountain area disaster with huge landslide and mud flow caused in northern Japan (Tohoku Area)

24

Gigantic landslides in Aratosawa Dam induced big mud flow

Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake 2008 25

Head area in the landslide in Aratosawa DamIwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake 2008 26

Collapse of Matsurube Bridge constructed in the volcanic mountain areaRoute 342, National Road Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake 2008 27

Failure of Road constructed on volcanic areaIwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake 2008 28

Niigata EarthquakeJune 16 1964 Mw=7.5

It was not until 1964 when liquefaction came to be considered seriously by engineers. 

Scientific studies on mechanism and prediction of liquefaction as well as remedial measures were properly commenced.

29

Falling of Showa Bridge  due to subsoil liquefaction in   Shinano River                                 1964 Niigata Earthquake 

30

Inclined apartment buildings due to liquefaction1964 Niigata Earthquake 

31

2003 Tokachioki Earthquake

【Main Shock】 4:50AM Sep.26 2003Mw ＝ 8.0Epicenter： N latitude 41°46′

E longitude 144°04′Depth ：42km

【Aftershock (max)】 6:08AM Sep.26 2003Mw ＝ 7.1Epicenter： N latitude 41°42′

E longitude 143°41′Depth ：21km

２５32

Epicenter

Rumoi

Wakkanai

Kitami

40km

N

Distribution of epicenter ofTokachioki Earthquake and

epicentral distance of 2003Tokachioki Earthquake

Muroran

ObihiroKushiro

Asahikawa Nemuro

1952/3/4 Tokachioki(N 41°42.3’， E 144°9.0’，M8.2)

1968/5/16 Tokachioki(N 40°44.0’， E 143°35.0’，M7.9)

2003/9/26, 4:50 Tokachioki(N 41°46.7’， E 144°4.7’，M8.0)

2003/9/26, 6:08Tokachioki

(max. aftershock)(N 41°42.5’，

E 143°41.4’，M7.1)

Chitose

Tomakomai

200km from epicenter

100km from epicenter

1993/1/15 Kushiro oki Earthquake(N 42°55.2’，E 144°21.2’，M7.5)

Otaru

Hakodate

Sapporo

300km from epicenter

Aomori

Earthquakes in the Pacific side of Hokkaido 33

Boiling of volcanic soil (Spfl) at Sapporo City due to 2003 Tokachioki Earthquake: (a) Housing Site, (b) City St.

Collapse of house with tilting angle of 5°

(a) (b)

34

35

500 100 150 200m

N

Housing A

Housing BLiquefaction(Sand boiling)

Damage of housing at 1968 Tokachi-oki Earthquake

Damage of housing at 2003 Tokachi-oki Earthquake

cracks in wall or foundation

Settlement, horizontal moving, tilting,deformation

Severe damage with difficulty for residency

Settlement or tilting of foundation/Damage of structure

Deformation of road with crack

Area of earth fill

36

Big liquefaction occurrence of volcanic ground (Kcfl) at Kitami agricultural site due to 2003 Tokachioki Earthquake: (a) overview of farmland, (b) subsidence and uplift of farmland induced by liquefaction

(a)

(b)

Crater with diameter of 12m 

37 38

Sapporo

Kitami

New Chitose Airport❶Mori

❷Tomikawa

❸Kashiwabara

❹Nakashibetsu

Distribution of pyroclastic deposits in Hokkaidoand sampling locations of soils discussed  39

Sample name ρs ρd IN-SITU D50 Uc Fc

(g/cm3) (g/cm3) (mm) (%)

❶Mori 2.82 1.49 0.64 2.3 0.2

❷Tomikawa 2.22 0.49 1.1 2.8 1.0

❸Kashiwabara 2.34 0.53 1.3 3.1 1.3

Bibi 2.28 0.65 1.4 4.0 1.4

❹Nakashibetsu(Musa) 2.51 0.41 4.6 5.1 1.6

Touhoro 2.56 0.45 6.6 6.0 2.1

Toyoura sand 2.65 ----- 0.18 1.1 ―40

❶ MORI VOLCANIC SOIL ❷ TOMIKAWA VOLCANIC SOIL

❸ KASHIWABARA VOLCANIC SOIL ❹ NAKASHIBETSU VOLCANIC SOIL41

-10 0 10 20 300

2

4

6

8

10

εr (=ε3) (%) STRAIN εa (=ε1) (%)

DRAINED TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION TESTMSP

VOLCANIC SOIL (a)

MORI

TOMIKAWANAKASHIBETSU

196σ'c (kPa) 49

STR

ESS R

ATIO

, σa/

σr＝

σ1/σ

3'

''

'

-20 -10 0 10 20 300

2

4

6

8

10

UNDRAINED TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION TESTMSP

VOLCANIC SOIL (b)

εr (=ε3) (%) STRAIN εa (=ε1) (%)

STR

ESS R

ATIO

, σa/

σr＝

σ1/σ

3'

''

'

MORI

TOMIKAWANAKASHIBETSU

196σ'c (kPa) 49

(a)

(b)

(a)Drained condition

(b)Undrained condition

Triaxial stress‐strain relationship on Hokkaido Volcanic soils

42

Peculiar deformation behavior of volcanic soils

Principal strain ratio development during triaxial compression【Volcanic coarse-grained soils, except for Mori volcanic soil come to the failure under the condition for restricting deformation in the radial direction of triaxial specimen】

43

0 10 20 30

AXIAL STRAIN, εa　(%)

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

VO

LU

METR

IC S

TR

AIN

, ε

v(%

)

DRAINED TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION TESTMSP

VOLCANIC SOIL, TOYOURA SAND

MORITOMIKAWA

NAKASHIBETSU

196σ'c　(kPa) 49

TOYOURA SAND(Drc=80%)

(a)

0 10 20 30 40

AXIAL STRAIN, εa　(%)

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

EXC

ESS P

OR

E W

ATER

PR

ESSU

RE, Δ

u (k

Pa)

UNDRAINED TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION TESTMSP

VOLCANIC SOIL, TOYOURA SAND (b)

MORITOMIKAWA

NAKASHIBETSU

196σ'c　(kPa) 49

TOYOURA SAND(Drc=80%)

(a)

(b)

Dilatancy and pore water pressure behavior for Hokkaido Volcanic soils

(a)Drained condition

(b)Undrained condition

44

Dependency of d and ’ on effective mean principal stress45

Figure 6. Soil profiles and in-situ test results: (a) Utonai, (b) Hayakita, (c) Nakashibetsu airport, (d) Kagoshima

0 10 20N-Value

00 100200Gsc(MPa

0

SCP SPT

(a)UTONAI

5

10

15

20

0

DEP

TH

(m

)

Pumice(Ta)

Volcanic sand and silt

Secondary sedimentation of Pumice(Spfa-1)

Volcanicsand

Sand with gravel

UT-1

UT-2

SAMPLE

0 10 20N-Value

0

16

SPT Gsc(MPa)0 100

SCP

(b)HAYAKITA

5

10

0

15

DEP

TH

(m

)

Pumice(Ta)

Pumice(Spfa-1)

Volcanic sand (En)

Volcanic sand (Spfl)

Volcanic sand with pumice(Spfa-2)

Organic soil

HK-1

HK-2

HK-3

SAMPLE

0 10 20N-Value

0

12

0 100200Gsc(MP0

12

SCP SPT

(c)NAKASHIBETSU AIRPORT

SAMPLE

5

10

0(Ma-f1,i)

Volcanic sand withpumice(Ch)

Embankment

Volcanic sand

Volcanic sand (Kcfl)

DEP

TH

(m

)

TO-1TO-2TO-3

Pumice(Ma-l)

0 10 20N-Value

0

25

0 50 100Gsc(MPa

0

25

SCP SPT

(d)KAGOSHIMA

5

10

15

20

0

25

Volcanic sand with pumice

Embankment

DEP

TH

(m

)

Secondary sedimentation of volcanic sand(Shirasu)

SV-1

SV-2

SV-3

SV-4

SV-5

SV-6

SV-8

SV-7

SAMPLE

(a)UTONAI (b)HAYAKITA (c)NAKASHIBETU Airport (d)KAGOSHIMA

Typical soil profiles and in‐situ test results  Hokkaido and Kagoshima, Kyushu

46

(a)

(b)

Change in Δ Fc with increase of effective mean principal stress for volcanic soils

(a) ❷Tomikawa and Kashiwabara❸Bibi

(b)❶Mori ❹Nakashibetsu

47

0 100 200 300 4000

50

100

150

200

250

EFFECTIVE CONFINING PRESSURE, σc' (kPa)

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S, G

0(M

Pa)

TOYOURA (Drc=80%)

TOUHORO (RE)

SHIRASU (UN) SHIRASU (RE)

HAYAKITA (UN)

TOUHORO (UN)

VOID RATIO AFTER CONSOLIDATION ec

3.814～5.319 3.310～3.651

1.052～1.6081.295～1.310

2.989～3.423

0.696～0.718

SAMPLE

UTONAI (UN) 2.680～3.585

0 100 200 300 4000

50

100

150

200

250

EFFECTIVE CONFINING PRESSURE, σc' (kPa)

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S, G

0(M

Pa)

TOYOURA (Drc=80%)

TOUHORO (RE)

SHIRASU (UN) SHIRASU (RE)

HAYAKITA (UN)

TOUHORO (UN)

VOID RATIO AFTER CONSOLIDATION ec

3.814～5.319 3.310～3.651

1.052～1.6081.295～1.310

2.989～3.423

0.696～0.718

SAMPLE

UTONAI (UN) 2.680～3.585

48

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8VOID RATIO, e

0

50

100

150

200

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S, G

(M

Pa)

①Hardin & Richart (1963) σv'=98kPa②Shibata & Soelarno (1975) σv'=98kPa③Iwasaki & Tatsuoka (1977) σv'=98kPa④Kokusho (1980) σv'=98kPa⑤Lo Presti et al. (1997) σv'=98kPa

①②

③④

Gmax =3270・(2.97-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.97) RESONANT COLUMN

① Hardin & Richart (1963)

Gmax =41600 0.67-

(e≦2.0) ULTRASONIC PULSE

② Shibata & Soelarno (1975)

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

e(1+e)

Gmax =14100・(2.17-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.17) RESONANT COLUMN

③ Iwasaki &Tatsuoka (1977)

Gmax =8320・(2.17-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.17) CYCLIC TRIAXIAL TEST

④ Kokusho (1980)

Gmax =724・e-1.3

TORSIONAL SHEAR TEST

⑤ Lo Presti et al. (1997)

(σv')0.45

(σa)0.55

⑤

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

(σv') (in kPa)0.4

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

RESONANT COLUMN

(in kPa)

G0(ct)=2488・ec ・(σc') (in kPa)-0.56 0.68

G0(ct)=10276・ec ・(σc') (in kPa)-2.46 0.52

RECONSTITUTED TOUHORO σc'=98kPa

RECONSTITUTED SHIRASU σc'=98kPa

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8VOID RATIO, e

0

50

100

150

200

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S, G

(M

Pa)

①Hardin & Richart (1963) σv'=98kPa②Shibata & Soelarno (1975) σv'=98kPa③Iwasaki & Tatsuoka (1977) σv'=98kPa④Kokusho (1980) σv'=98kPa⑤Lo Presti et al. (1997) σv'=98kPa

①②

③④

Gmax =3270・(2.97-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.97) RESONANT COLUMN

① Hardin & Richart (1963)

Gmax =41600 0.67-

(e≦2.0) ULTRASONIC PULSE

② Shibata & Soelarno (1975)

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

e(1+e)

Gmax =14100・(2.17-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.17) RESONANT COLUMN

③ Iwasaki &Tatsuoka (1977)

Gmax =8320・(2.17-e)(1+e)

2

(e≦2.17) CYCLIC TRIAXIAL TEST

④ Kokusho (1980)

Gmax =724・e-1.3

TORSIONAL SHEAR TEST

⑤ Lo Presti et al. (1997)

(σv')0.45

(σa)0.55

⑤

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

(σv') (in kPa)0.4

(σv') (in kPa)0.5

RESONANT COLUMN

(in kPa)

G0(ct)=2488・ec ・(σc') (in kPa)-0.56 0.68

G0(ct)=10276・ec ・(σc') (in kPa)-2.46 0.52

RECONSTITUTED TOUHORO σc'=98kPa

RECONSTITUTED SHIRASU σc'=98kPa

Small strain shear modulus G related to void ratio for volcanic soils

49

1 10 501

10

100

1000

5N-VALUE FROM SPT

UTONAI

SHIRASU

HAYAKITATOUHORO

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S G

0(=

GSC) (M

Pa)

TOUHORO

UTONAI

SHIRASU

0.658

(Diluvial sand)Imai (1977)

G =16.7・N0

0.715G =9.2・N0

HAYAKITA

(Alluvial sand)Imai (1977)

1 10 501

10

100

1000

5N-VALUE FROM SPT

UTONAI

SHIRASU

HAYAKITATOUHORO

SH

EA

R M

OD

ULU

S G

0(=

GSC) (M

Pa)

TOUHORO

UTONAI

SHIRASU

0.658

(Diluvial sand)Imai (1977)

G =16.7・N0

0.715G =9.2・N0

HAYAKITA

(Alluvial sand)Imai (1977)

50

0 5 10 15 20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

(a)

qc＝0.4N(qc＝4N in kgf/cm )2

Meyerhof, 1956

qc＝0.8N(VOLCANIC SOIL)

qc (MPa) FROM DUTCH CONE

UTONAI SITE

HAYAKITA SITE

PUMICE

VOLCANIC ASH

LOAM

PUMICE

VOLCANIC ASH

LOAM

N-VALU

E FROM

SPT

0 5 10 15 20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

(a)

qc＝0.4N(qc＝4N in kgf/cm )2

Meyerhof, 1956

qc＝0.8N(VOLCANIC SOIL)

qc (MPa) FROM DUTCH CONE

UTONAI SITE

HAYAKITA SITE

PUMICE

VOLCANIC ASH

LOAM

PUMICE

VOLCANIC ASH

LOAM

N-VALU

E FROM

SPT

Relationships between N value and cone penetration test results51

SUMMARY１．Recent earthquakes-induced damages of volcanic

grounds● Tokachioki Earthquake(1968,2003), Iwate-Miyagi(2008) and the

Great East Japan Earthquake(2011) caused ground damages such asliquefaction, extremely huge landslides, debris flows and slope failures. Especially, in the volcanic inland of Tohoku district, gigantic geotechnicaldamages were induced.

● Earthquake-induced risk such as liquefaction is high in not only sand ground but in volcanic soil ground.

● Occurrence of liquefaction damages was concentrated on the urbanareas developed by filling volcanic coarse-grained material.

We must keep in mind that the Japanese archipelago has apparently entered a period of unusually frequent seismic activity.

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２．Distribution and engineering characteristics

●Japan has a variety of volcanic ash soils that cause complicated andpeculiar geotechnical engineering problems in all the regions of theislands.

● From the laboratory test on such soils, ＃crushing of particles due to consolidation and shearing becomes

important. ＃strong contractive behavior in the crushable volcanic soils is mainly

attributed to particle crushing due to shear.

● Difference of strength, especially liquefaction potential, between undisturbed and reconstituted volcanic specimens is far bigger thanthat of usual sand deposits.

This indicates that the in-situ cementation effect on liquefaction strength and shear modulus is important for volcanic soils.

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３．Small strain shear behavior

● Shear modulus of volcanic soils can be expressed as a function ofconfining pressure and void ratio as for the case of usual sand.

● Compared to Toyoura sand and Shirasu, the dependence of shearmodulus on void ratio is insignificant in volcanic soils.

This is due to that the void ratio of pumice is extremely high by the existence of many intra-particle voids.

４．In-situ testing on volcanic ground

● In grounds composed of crushable volcanic soils, particle crushing is induced owing to the intrusion of the sampler at the SPT.

This leads to the underestimation of N value for crushable grounds.

54

Thank you for your kind attention

ありがとう

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