Abstract
The Central Sulawesi Province of Sulawesi Island of Indonesia was hit by a powerful earthquake of moment magnitude (Mw) 7.5 on September 28, 2018. The earthquake was triggered by the left lateral Palu–Koro fault at a shallow hypocentral depth of 20 km. The event resulted in major geotechnical failures and structural damages in Palu city and Sigi Regency, causing thousands of deaths and injuries to more. Areas such as Balaroa, Petobo, Jono Oge and Sibalaya suffered enormous damage due to long-distance flow-slides and mud flows. It was the first of its kind of a large-scale flow-slide event triggered by an earthquake, surprisingly on a very gently sloped ground, displacing ground to hundreds of meters. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief insight on the outcomes of the field investigations launched by teams of researchers from Japan, immediately after the earthquake to delineate the key factors responsible for triggering such intensive flow-slides. Findings from the field investigations performed by means of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), in situ testing using portable dynamic cone penetration test (PDCPT) and trench survey, are described here. In addition, subsequent data interpretation and some probable mechanism of the flow-slides are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the members of the JICA Domestic Committee for technical support to the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake, Indonesia, and, in particular, Prof. Kenji Ishihara, Prof. Takaji Kokusho, Prof. Susumu Yasuda, Prof. Ikuo Towhata and Dr. Kimio Takeya, for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Prof. Towhata’s special initiation to start the reconnaissance survey immediately after the earthquake is also highly appreciated. Previous research done by Prof. Kokusho in the area of fluidized flow has been a guiding principle for the authors, and his encouragement to take up this research is acknowledged with special thanks. The authors also would like to acknowledge JICA for the partial support provided in the initial phase of the investigation. Special thanks go also to Dr. Naoto Tada, JICA Indonesia, and Mr. Hisashi Furuichi, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd., for their encouragement and timely support during the investigations. In addition, the authors like to acknowledge the financial support for this research under Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (Grant Number 20H02244). The authors also would likely to acknowledge the partial support provided by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number JP19KK0108) and grants provided by Japan Society for Civil Engineers (JSCE) Committee for promoting innovation in infrastructure management. The authors further acknowledge Prof. Masyhur Irsyam (Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia) and Dr. Ardy Arsad (Hasanuddin University, Indonesia) for the logistical support during the field investigations. Last but not least, the overwhelming support by Ms. Ode Wa Sumartini, graduate student, Kyushu University, and students of Tadulako University, Palu, during the field investigations is gratefully acknowledged.
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Hazarika, H., Rohit, D., Kiyota, T., Okamura, M., Pasha, S.M.K., Nurdin, S. (2021). Forensic Evaluation of Long-Distance Flow in Gently Sloped Ground During the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake, Indonesia. In: Sitharam, T., Jakka, R., Kolathayar, S. (eds) Latest Developments in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. Springer Transactions in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1468-2_12
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