How an Earthquake can cause soil liquefaction
Fonte: R7
Recently, Indonesia was hit by an earthquake, which left a trail of destruction and death, followed by a tsunami that devastated the cities of Palu and Dongala on Sulawesi Island.
In the midst of all this chaos, a third natural phenomenon caught the attention: the liquefaction of soil. According to the geologist Tito Aureliano, a researcher of the University of Campinas (Unicamp), when sandy soils, saturated with water, are reached by vibrations of seismic waves, they can liquefy. That’s right, soil behaves like pure mud! Thus, the liquefaction of soils is not caused by tsunami, but both are caused by the same reason.
Do you want to understand how the liquefaction of soil happens? So, let’s go!
The energy created by the earthquake forces the sand grains to push against each other, exerting a strong pressure on the water molecules that occupy soil pores, making the soil to behave as liquid. The phenomenon, that causes landslides, has also occurred on the coast of Argentina and Japan, having as common characteristic the massive destruction. Tragic!
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