Earth Pressures on Structures Due to Fault Movement

The characteristics of earth pressure loads on buried structures due to fault movements are examined and two types of finite element analyses are described which can be used to calculate the magnitudes of these pressures. Although the problem is three-dimensional, the results of two-dimensional analyses are shown to be consistent with the results of model tests. These analyses can be used to determine the distribution of pressures on the structure, and to estimate the magnitudes of the earth pressure loads for design of a structure subject to fault movements.