THE DAMAGE TO ABANDONED QUARRIES AND MINES BY THE M 9.

0 EAST JAPAN MEGA EARTHQUAKE ON MARCH 11, 2011

mer AYDAN Tokai University, Shizuoka, Japan Hisataka TANO Nihon University, Koriyama, Japan With the collaboration of The Cavity Filling Association of Japan

April 16, 2011

CONTENT

1) Investigated Locations 2) Damage to Abandoned Underground Quarries in Oya Town (Tochigi Prefecture) 3) Sinkholes above Abandoned Coal Mines in Yoshima Town (Fukushima Prefecture) 4) Sinkholes above Abandoned Lignite Mines Miyagi Prefecture 5) Strong Ground Motions in Damaged Areas 6) Considerations and Conclusions

Investigated Locations N Location and Geography Wakayanagi, Ohira

Yoshima Oya

Modified from Google Map

Damage to Abandoned Underground Quarries in Oya Town (Tochigi Prefecture) Oya tuff or Oya stone, has been quarried in the Oya region, Utsunomiya, Japan. Over 200 underground quarries have been exploited for more than 100 years and some of those are below residential areas. Oya town is about 295km away from the epicenter

Collapse of An Abandoned Underground Quarry Before Collapse

P1

P2 After Collapse

The toppling of pillar (P1) caused the collapse of thin roof of the abandoned quarry

P2

P1

Partial Collapse-1

Partial Collapse-2

Settlement of Non-cohesive Filling Material of Shafts-1

Settlement of filling material: about 5m and the shaft diameter: 7m

Damage due to the settlement of non-cohesive filling material of Shaft-2 Settlement is more than 3m.

Car and hut fallen into the sinkhole

Re-filled shaft of an abandoned quarry

Re-Settlement of an old sinkhole and failure of its rim slopes

Diameter of the old sinkhole is about 100m

Sinkholes above Abandoned Coal Mines in Yoshima Town (Fukushima Prefecture) Regional Geology

From Geological Survey of Japan

Locations of sinkholes in Yoshima Town L-1 L-2 L-3 Ventilation shaft

Inclined Shaft

L-5 L-4

Before filling

After filling

Location 1 (L-1)

Location 2 (L-2)

Location 3(L-3)

Location 4 (L-4)

Location 5 (L-5)

Inclined shaft

Ventilation shaft

Sinkholes above Abandoned Lignite Mines in Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures Coal & Lignite Fields in Tohoku Number of Sinkholes Miyagi Prefecture Kurihara: 11 locations Osaki: 7 locations Higashi Matsushima: 11 locations Kurogawa: 3 locations Iwate Prefecture Ichinoseki: 11 locations Oshu: 10 locations Modified From Geological Survey of Japan Source METI

Sinkholes in Wakayanagi (Miyagi Prefecture) L-1

Views of sinkholes due to the main shock and April 7 aftershock

Sinkholes in Wakayanagi (Miyagi Prefecture) L-2

Sinkhole beneath an house

Sinkholes in Wakayanagi (Miyagi Prefecture) L-3

Filled sinkhole

Sinkhole in the forest

Muddy water discharge beneath an house

Sinkholes in Ohira (Miyagi Prefecture) L-1 20 sinkholes. 7 sinkholes very large

Sinkholes in Ohira (Miyagi Prefecture) L-2

Sinkholes in Ohira (Miyagi Prefecture) L-3

Strong Ground Motions in Damaged Areas Utsunomiya

Amax = 358 gals

Data from KIK-NET

Iwaki

Amax = 436 gals

Data from K-NET

Kurihara-Tsukidate

Amax = 2933 gals

Data from K-NET

Considerations and Conclusions Strong ground shaking induced the collapses of semi-underground openings in the abandoned Oya quarries, which are relatively high and having overhanging configurations. Besides the possibility of caving of abandoned mines during earthquakes due to either pillar failure and/or roof failure, the ground water may present additional effects on the submerged abandoned mines. These effect may be observed as sloshing, which may weaken the rockmass and cause additional collapses. Sinkholes are thought to be due to the rupture of ground by the sloshing of ground water in inclined shafts. This phenomenon is the same as that observed in the abandoned lignite mines of Yamoto Town during the 2003 Miyagi Hokubu earthquake (Aydan and Kawamoto, 2004) When the filling material of shafts of abandoned mines is noncohesive, the filling material would settle in the shafts due to its flow into adjacent openings when ground shaking is strong enough to induce the flow of filling material particles.