Abstract
In three years from 1993 to 1995, six large earthquakes, Kushiro-Oki on January 15, 1993, Hokkaido Nansei-Oki on July 12, 1993, Hokkaido-Tohooki on October 4, 1994, Sanriku-Harukaoki on December 28, 1994, Hyougo-Nanbu on January 17, 1995, and Sorachi earthquake on May 23, 1995 occurred in Japan causing much damage to public works. In this paper, I give an outline of the seismic behavior of agricuitural fill dams during the earthquakes.
Fill dams are particularly important structures, and thus examination of the seismic activity is extremely significant in considering seismic design of fill dams. Although no fill dams suffered destructive damage by earthquakes in the past, except for hydraulic fill dams, some small earth dams were destroyed. Elucidation of the cause of their damage is necessary to consider the earthquake resistant design of fill dams and the mechanics of earthquake-caused damage.
