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2008 Conference

Details

 

Gisborne Quake

GisborneQuake

 

 

 

Events

NZSEE Annual Technical Conference and AGM

11-13 April 2008, Wairakei

The New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering Conference is an annual forum where current research and practice related to earthquake engineering is presented in papers and posters.

The Keynote Address from Dr Tom Holzer, U.S. Geological Survey, is on "Learning from earthquakes and the US Plan for coordinating post-earthquake investigations"

A special session will report on the 2007 December 20 Gisborne Earthquake.

Registration package: Conference Programme (292K DOC), Registration Form (36K DOC), Accommodation Description (237K DOC) and Accommodation Registration (245K DOC)

NZSEE Lecture

Dr. Thomas L. Holzer of the U.S. Geological Survey, and Keynote presenter at the 2008 NZSEE Conference, will give the following NZSEE Travelling Lecture in Napier, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland (see Details below). The lecture begins at 6:00 pm, with light refreshments from 5:30 pm.

Probabilistic liquefaction hazard mapping based on surficial geology



The lecture describes a methodology for creating probabilistic liquefaction hazard maps based on the application of the liquefaction potential index (LPI) to characterize the liquefaction hazard of surficial geologic units. LPI integrates the liquefaction potential of susceptible soil elements at a specific location into a single value. In the methodology, liquefaction probability curves - relations between the probability of surface manifestations of liquefaction and ground motion - are developed for surficial geologic units based on complementary cumulative frequency distributions of LPI for the units. Although regionally specific liquefaction probability curves are preferable for the creation of a hazard map, generic curves for the different types of surficial geologic units (e.g., flood plains, alluvial fans, etc.) are fairly similar and permit creation of reasonable hazard maps even without regionally specific geotechnical data. Both probabilistic liquefaction scenario maps and PSHA-based liquefaction hazard maps have been produced for several areas. Scenario maps in the San Francisco Bay, California, region compare favorably with observations of liquefaction in the mapped areas during historical earthquakes.
    Dr. Holzer is a research engineering geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, and a consulting professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University. The author of more than 100 professional publications and recipient of many professional awards, his research speciality is the effect of earthquakes on the built environment. His current research is focused on the development of a methodology for probabilistic liquefaction hazard mapping. He received his B.S.E. in geological engineering from Princeton University in 1965 and his M.S. in hydrology in 1966 and Ph.D. in geology in 1970 from Stanford University. He has conducted many post-earthquake investigations, both foreign and domestic, and chaired the committee that wrote the current plan to coordinate post-earthquake investigations of the U.S. National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
The lectures are jointly run by the NZSEE and the NZ Geotechnical Society.

Seminars

Tom Holzer is presenting the following seminar in Christchurch and Auckland (see Details below):

The physics of earthquake ground lurching and why it is important



Ground lurching - slow, large, oscillatory, ground movement - is occasionally reported during damaging earthquakes. It is a significant cause of both pipeline damage and "confusing" patterns of ground deformation. Heretofore, the physics of ground lurching has not been well understood. A re-evaluation of recordings from the 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquake reveals that ground lurching is simply the surface response to the passage of long-period, low-amplitude, Love waves through a sandy site that has already been softened by excess pore-water pressure that was generated by preceding strong ground motion. The re-evaluation indicates that low-amplitude surface waves can be an important source of cyclic strain responsible for generating excess pore-water pressure in loose sands during earthquakes and even the cause of liquefaction (i.e., a zero effective stress condition). Cyclic loading by surface waves may explain some instances of what appear to be delayed soil failure after an earthquake has "ended." The re-evaluation also indicates that the simplified procedure - the standard geotechnical engineering technique to predict liquefaction - is fundamentally flawed.

Tom Holzer's Presentations

    Wairakei Fri 11 April Keynote Address The NZSEE Annual Conference
    Napier Mon 14 April Lecture @ 6 pm The Eastern Institute of Technology
    ChristchurchTue 15 April Seminar @ 2 pm Lecture Theatre E11, The University of Canterbury School of Engineering, Creyke Rd
    Christchurch Tue 15 April Lecture @ 6 pm Lecture Theatre E5, The University of Canterbury School of Engineering, Creyke Rd
    Wellington Wed 16 April Lecture @ 6 pm The VUW School of Architecture
    Auckland Thr 17 April Lecture @ 6 pm The University of Auckland Conference Centre, 22 Symonds St
    Auckland Fri 18 April Seminar @ TBA pm The University of Auckland, Institute of Earth Science and Engineering
Lectures start at 6 pm in all four locations and are preceded by refreshments at 5:30 pm.

The seminars are being hosted by the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering (contact Bruce Deam at The University of Canterbury) and the Institute of Earth Science and Engineering (contact Murray Grigor at The University of Auckland).

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