Soil Liquefaction

Soil Liquefaction – Does it mean that if my house is far from the fault, it's safe?

Not necessarily. Other hazards to watch out for include ground shaking (which leads to structural failure or landslides) and soil liquefaction. For this post, I'll focus on soil liquefaction since this is as serious as the fault line.

Soil liquefaction (SL) is when loosely packed soil loses strength due to strong ground shaking. The video above shows how this happens. When the ground's portions sink, the building's weight is distributed unevenly on its foundations, leading to cracks and structural failure.

AIR Worldwide, a US-based institution that pioneered catastrophe modeling, warns that one area in the world stands out for liquefaction potential–Metro Manila.

The image shown above is a map created by Philvocs. The red portions of this map are areas highly susceptible to SL: Pasay, Manila, and parts of Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Muntinlupa, etc.

The good news is that engineers may assess a lot's liquefaction potential through specific tests. If they determine high susceptibility to SL, there are engineering marvels to help mitigate the damage.

Take-aways:

1. Choose developers whom you know wouldn't cut corners in construction.

2. Get insurance.

3. Best to be prepared for the worst.

The Philippines records an average of 20 earthquakes per day. Filipinos report feeling four to five earthquakes per week. And there have been 90 destructive earthquakes in the last 400 years. – Philvocs