New seismic monitoring center in South America to assess the liquefaction risk posed by subduction earthquakes

The east of Cali is composed of loose sand deposits with high water table levels. This condition and the high seismic hazard of the city make cyclic liquefaction one of the main hazards in the city, which may affect more than 600,000 citizens and important infrastructures such as the city's main drinking water treatment plants. Therefore, it was decided to design and implement a seismic monitoring center to study the behavior of liquefiable soils under local seismogenic conditions, in which subduction earthquakes predominate. First, more than 130 earthquakes from two seismic monitoring centers with liquefiable layers in the USA were studied to determine the requirements for the adequate design of the monitoring center. Then, a robust geotechnical and seismic characterization of the study area including SPT, CPTu, and seismic and ambient noise tests were carried out. From this information, the specifications and location of the instruments and, in general, the characteristics of the monitoring center were defined. The monitoring center has been planned to be established in two stages, and the first one has already been built and commissioned. The implementation of the first stage allowed to adequately record 35 earthquakes from different seismogenic sources, most of them from subduction earthquakes, and to verify that the potentially liquefiable layer remains saturated throughout the year. Subsequent ground motion sensors will allow to deeply study and understand large shear strains and excess pore pressures generation in the soil deposit, as well as their relationships with different intensity measures. The experience shared herein can benefit the design, construction, and operation of other seismic monitoring centers across the world.

Automated summary

The east of Cali is made up of loose sand deposits with high water table levels, resulting in cyclic liquefaction being a major hazard in the city. To study liquefiable soils under local seismogenic conditions, a seismic monitoring center was designed and implemented. The center has been built in two stages, with the first stage already operational and able to record earthquakes and verify the saturation of the potentially liquefiable layer. Ground motion sensors in the future will further enhance the understanding of shear strains and excess pore pressures in the soil deposit.