An Investigation into the Liquefaction Phenomena in the Iskenderun Bay Following the February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake

Year 2025, Volume: 11 Issue: 3, 260 - 275, 30.09.2025

Yusuf Guzel , Fidan Güzel

https://doi.org/10.28979/jarnas.1704353

Abstract

This study investigates the liquefaction phenomena in the İskenderun Bay by revisiting the site that was liquefied during the first major strike of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake events on February 6th, 2023 (with a moment magnitude of 7.7). Firstly, the recorded input motions around the site are described. Accordingly, the soil profiles at the site are illustrated, along with the measured Standard Penetration Test (SPT) values. Later, the liquefaction analyses are conducted using a simplified method. Additionally, the two soil profiles are modelled and simulated under one of the recorded input motions at the site. Both analytical and numerical results clearly illustrate a high level of liquefaction possibility, with safety factors well below the threshold value of 1, particularly at the granular soil layers. Moreover, the generation of excess pore water pressure appears to increase as it moves through the ground surface within the sandy and silty soil layers. This implicitly indicates the liquefaction susceptibility of granular soil layers at the top 20 m of the site. It also highlights the effectiveness of the simplified and numerical approaches in predicting liquefaction.

Keywords

Kahramanmaraş earthquake event , liquefaction , simplified approach , numerical approach , excess pore water pressure

References

• S. L. Kramer, Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Pearson Education India, 1996.
• Y. Zhang, Y. Xie, Y. Zhang, J. Qiu, S. Wu, The adoption of deep neural network (DNN) to the prediction of soil liquefaction based on shear wave velocity, Journal of Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 80 (6) (2021) 5053-5060.
• C. Meisina, R. Bonì, F. Bozzoni, D. Conca, C. Perotti, P. Persichillo, C. G. Lai, Mapping soil liquefaction susceptibility across Europe using the analytic hierarchy process, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 20 (11) (2022) 5601-5632.
• S. Lirer, A. Chiaradonna, L. Mele, Soil liquefaction: From mechanisms to effects on the built environment, Italian Geotechnical Journal-Rivista Italiana Di Geotecnica 54 (3) (2020) 23-51.
• M. Kazama, N. Sento, R. Uzuoka, M. Ishimaru, Progressive damage simulation of foundation pile of the Showa bridge caused by lateral spreading during the 1964 Niigata earthquake, presented at the 2nd International Conference for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation, Nanjing, CHINA, May 30-Jun 02, 2008.
• S. Bhattacharya, K. Tokimatsu, K. Goda, R. Sarkar, M. Shadlou, M. Rouholamin, Collapse of Showa Bridge during 1964 Niigata earthquake: A quantitative reappraisal on the failure mechanisms, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 65 (2014) 55-71.
• A. Chiaradonna, A. d'Onofrio, F. Silvestri, G. Tropeano, Prediction of nonlinear soil behaviour in saturated sand: A loosely coupled approach for 1D effective stress analysis, presented at the 7th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (ICEGE), Rome, ITALY, Jun 17-20, 2019.
• Y. B. Sönmezer, A. Akyüz, K. Kayabali, Investigation of the effect of grain size on liquefaction potential of sands, Geomechanics and Engineering 20 (3) (2020) 243-254.
• A. Isik, N. Unsal, A. Gurbuz, E. Sisman, Assessment of liquefaction potential of Fethiye based on spt and shear wave velocity, Journal of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Gazi University 31(4) (2016) 1027-1037.
• R. Ulusay, T. Kuru, 1998 Adana-Ceyhan (Turkey) earthquake and a preliminary microzonation based on liquefaction potential for Ceyhan town, Natural Hazards 32 (1) (2004) 59-88.
• B. Sonmez, R. Ulusay, Liquefaction potential at Izmit Bay: comparison of predicted and observed soil liquefaction during the Kocaeli earthquake, Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 67 (1) (2008) 1-9.
• M. Cubrinovski, R. Green, J. Allen, S. Ashford, E. Bowman, B. Bradley, B. Cox, T. Hutchinson, E. Kavazanjian, R. Orense, M. Pender, M. Quigley, L. Wotherspoon, Geotechnical reconnaissance of the 2010 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake, Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering 43 (4) (2010) 243.
• B. W. Maurer, R. A. Green, M. Cubrinovski, B. A. Bradley, Evaluation of the liquefaction potential index for assessing liquefaction hazard in Christchurch, New Zealand, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 140 (7) (2014) 04014032.
• S. Sassa, T. Takagawa, Liquefied gravity flow-induced tsunami: first evidence and comparison from the 2018 Indonesia Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami disasters, Landslides 16 (1) (2019) 195-200.
• T. Görüm, H. Tanyas, F. Karabacak, A. Yılmaz, S. Girgin, K. E. Allstadt, M. L. Süzen, P. Burgi, Preliminary documentation of coseismic ground failure triggered by the February 6th, 2023 Türkiye earthquake sequence, Engineering Geology Article 327 (2023) 107315.
• Y. Guzel, The 06.02.2023 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) earthquake events: The characteristics of the recorded input motions at different sites and their effect on structures, Journal of Earthquake Engineering (2024) 1-28.
• A. Demir, E. Celebi, H. Ozturk, Z. Ozcan, A. Ozocak, E. Bol, S. Sert, F. Z. Sahin, E. Arslan, Z. D. Yaman, M. Utkucu, N. Mert., Destructive impact of successive high magnitude earthquakes occurred in Türkiye's Kahramanmaraş on February 6th, 2023, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (Special issue) (2024).
• H. Ünal, Z. A. Ergüler, The effect of Kahramanmaraş earthquakes on engineering structures in Adıyaman-Gölbaşı settlement area and earthquake-soil interaction, Yerbilimleri/ Earth Sciences Article 44 (2023) 202-221, 1313819.
• E. Vuran, C. Serhatoglu, M. Timuragaoglu, E. Smyrou, I. E. Bal, R. Livaoglu, Damage observations of RC buildings from 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence and discussion on the seismic code regulations, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (2024).
• E. Cakir, K. O. Cetin, Liquefaction triggering and induced ground deformations at a metallurgical facility in Dörtyol-Hatay after the February 6th Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering Article 178 (2024) 108465.
• P. Ozener, M. M. Monkul, E. E. Bayat, A. Ari, K. O. Cetin, Liquefaction and performance of foundation systems in Iskenderun during 2023 Kahramanmaras-Turkiye earthquake sequence, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 178 (2024) 108433.
• J. F. Bird, J. J. Bommer, Earthquake losses due to ground failure, Engineering Geology 75 (2) (2004) 147-179.
• A. Khosravifar, A. Elgamal, J. Lu, J. Li, A 3D model for earthquake-induced liquefaction triggering and post-liquefaction response, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 110 (2018) 43-52.
• Ö. Yıldız, A. Zeybek, Y. B. Sönmezer, Investigation of the earthquake-induced liquefaction and seismic amplification after Pazarcık (Mw 7.7) and Elbistan (Mw 7.6) earthquakes, Environmental Earth Sciences 83 (21) (2024) 1-21.
• K. O. Cetin, B. Soylemez, H. Guzel, E. Cakir, Soil liquefaction sites following the February 6th, 2023, Kahramanmaraş-Türkiye earthquake sequence, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (Special issue) (2024).
• H. B. Seed, I. M. Idriss, Simplified procedure for evaluating soil liquefaction potential, ASCE Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division 97 (SM9) (1971) 1249-1273.
• Y. Guzel, M. A. Ozdemir, Liquefaction hazard assessments in Igdır city (Turkey), Erciyes University Journal of Institue of Science and Technology 40 (1) (2024) 148-166.
• W. Zhang, Y. Dong, J. G. F. Crempien, P. Arduino, A. Kurtulus, E. Taciroglu, A comparison of ground motions predicted through one-dimensional site response analyses and three-dimensional wave propagation simulations at regional scales, Earthquake Spectra 40 (2) (2024) 1215-1234.
• C. A. de la Torre, B. A. Bradley, F. Kuncar, R. L. Lee, L. M. Wotherspoon, A. E. Kaiser, Combining observed linear basin amplification factors with 1D nonlinear site-response analyses to predict site response for strong ground motions: Application to Wellington, New Zealand, Earthquake Spectra 40 (1) (2024) 143-173.
• C. Visone, F. S. de Magistris, E. Bilotta, Comparative study on frequency and time domain analyses for seismic site response, Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 15 A (2010) 1-20.
• R. Sun, X. Yuan, A holistic equivalent linear method for site response analysis, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 141 (2021) 106476.
• C. Bolisetti, A. S. Whittaker, H. B. Mason, I. Almufti, M. Willford, Equivalent linear and nonlinear site response analysis for design and risk assessment of safety-related nuclear structures, Nuclear Engineering and Design 275 (2014) 107-121.
• Ö. Yıldız, E. Doğan, Soil-structure interaction analysis of Çelebiağa Mosque, Pertek-Türkiye Revista De La Construcción 21 (3) (2022) 750-766.
• Y. Guzel, F. Guzel, Evaluation of EC8 and TBEC design response spectra applied at a region in Turkey, Earthquakes and Structures 25 (3) (2023) 199-208.
• Y. Guzel, F. Guzel, Investigation of local site effect considering the recordings of the 08.11.2021 earthquake event in Konya, Turkey, Natural Hazards 116 (1) (2023) 619-636.
• Y. Guzel, F. Güzel, Site response predictions at Atakoy downhole array, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Engineering Journal of Science and Engineering 25 (75) (2023) 739-750.
• Y. Guzel, Site response analyses with different stiffness profiles and input motion variability, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering 42 (3) (2024) 2075-2091.
• H. B. Seed, K. Tokimatsu, L. F. Harder, R. M. Chung, Influence of SPT procedures in soil liquefaction resistance evaluations, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering-ASCE 111 (12) (1985) 1425-1445.
• T. L. Youd, I. M. Idriss, Liquefaction resistance of soils: Summary report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF workshops on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 127 (4) (2001) 297-313.
• S. S. C. Liao, R. V. Whitman, Overburden correction factors for SPT in sand, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering-ASCE 112 (3) (1986) 373-377.
• H. Tosun, R. Ulusay, Engineering geological characterization and evaluation of liquefaction susceptibility of foundation soils at a dam site, southwest Turkey, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 3 (3) (1997) 389-409.
• E. S. Duman, S. B. Ikizler, Z. Angin, Evaluation of soil liquefaction potential index based on SPT data in Erzincan, Eastern Turkey, Arabian Journal of Geosciences 8 (7) (2015) 5269-5283.
• S. Mazzoni, F. McKenna, M. H. Scott, G. L. Fenves, Open system for earthquake engineering simulation user manual, Ed. Berkeley Calif: University of California, 2009.
• Z. Yang, Numerical modeling of earthquake site response including dilation and liquefaction, PhD dissertation, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University (2000), Columbia.
• Q. Gu, J. P. Conte, Z. Yang, A. Elgamal, Consistent tangent moduli for multi-yield-surface J 2 plasticity model, Computational Mechanics 48 (2011) 97-120.
• F. Rahmani, S. M. Hosseini, A. Khezri, M. Maleki, Effect of grid-form deep soil mixing on the liquefaction-induced foundation settlement, using numerical approach, Arabian Journal of Geosciences 15 (12) (2022) 1112.
• M. A. Biot, The mechanics of deformation and acoustic propagation in porous media, Journal of Applied Physics 33 (1482) (1962).
• O. C. Zienkiewicz, A. H. C. Chan, M. Pastor, D. K. Paul, T. Shiomi, Static and dynamic behavior of soils: a rational approach to quantitative solutions: I. Fully saturated problems, Proceedings of the Royal Society a Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 429 (1990).
• K. J. Bathe, Finite element procedures in engineering analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1982.
• J. Lysmer, R. L. Kuhlemeyer, Finite dynamic model for infinite media, Journal of the Engineering Mechanics Division 95 (1969).
• R. W. Clough, J. Penzien, Dynamics of structures, Berkeley: Computers and Structures, Inc., 2003.