A Framework for Assessing Earthquake Hazards for Major Pipelines

This chapter on assessing earthquake hazards for major pipelines is from the proceedings of an international conference on the terrain and geohazard challenges facing onshore oil and gas pipelines (June 2004, London, United Kingdom). The authors focus on the differences between hazard assessment related to construction at a single site and the types of assessment required over the location and width of pipeline corridors. Over its length, a pipeline will be exposed to a number of different hazards, for which appropriate risk-mitigation measures vary significantly. The authors present a framework for the identification, evaluation and definition of earthquake hazards, including surface fault rupture, ground shaking, liquefaction, and landslides. They discuss the relative importance of each of these hazards to pipeline components, starting at the regional level and progressing to local, site-specific conditions.