Analysis of faulting destruction and water supply pipeline damage from the first mainshock of the February 6, 2023 Türkiye earthquake doublet

Abstract

In 2023, two consecutive earthquakes exceeding a magnitude of 7 occurred in Türkiye, causing severe casualties and economic losses. The damage to critical urban infrastructure and building structures, including highways, railroads, and water supply pipelines, was particularly severe in areas where these structures intersected the seismogenic fault. Critical infrastructure projects that traverse active faults are susceptible to the influence of fault movement, pulse velocity, and ground motions. In this study, we used a unique approach to analyze the acceleration records obtained from the seismic station array (9 strong ground motion stations) located along the East Anatolian Fault (the seismogenic fault of the M_W7.8 mainshock of the 2023 Türkiye earthquake doublet). The acceleration records were filtered and integrated to obtain the velocity and displacement time histories. We used the results of an on-site investigation, jointly conducted by China Earthquake Administration and Türkiye’s AFAD, to analyze the distribution of PGA, PGV, and PGD recorded by the strong motion array of the East Anatolian Fault. We found that the maximum horizontal PGA in this earthquake was 3.0 g, and the maximum co-seismic surface displacement caused by the East Anatolian Fault rupture was 6.50 m. As the fault rupture propagated southwest, the velocity pulse caused by the directional effect of the rupture increased gradually, with the maximum PGA reaching 162.3 cm/s. We also discussed the seismic safety of critical infrastructure projects traversing active faults, using two case studies of water supply pipelines in Türkiye that were damaged by earthquakes. We used a three-dimensional finite element model of the PE (polyethylene) water pipeline at the Islahiye State Hospital and fault displacement observations obtained through on-site investigation to analyze pipeline failure mechanisms. We further investigated the effect of the fault-crossing angle on seismic safety of a pipeline, based on our analysis and the failure performance of the large-diameter Thames Water pipeline during the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake. The seismic method of buried pipelines crossing the fault was summarized.