Distribution characteristics of seismic subsidence of in-test field by explosion

The seismic subsidence of loess is a main kind of earthquake disaster in a large loess region, and it cannot be avoided during project construction. It has been investigated for many years mainly by indoor experiment, while it is rare that it is found during actual earthquakes or investigated by field tests. The seismic subsidence of loess can be really seen by blast instead of actual ground motion in typical loess field. So distribution characteristics can be found and factors of the seismic subsidence of loess can be analyzed. The experimental results show that the strong ground motion can cause seismic subsidence of loess. The maximum of loess subsidence is 33 mm and the minimum is 13 mm in test field. It is discovered that the settlement distribution coincides well with the strength of ground motion and spectral characteristics (value of H/V) in the loess field and is partly controlled by terrain. The seismic subsidence of upper loess layers is less than that of the lower ones in the field tests due to the closer distance between the lower layers and explosion shots.