Liquefaction happens when the ground loses strength and stability during an earthquake, and it can trigger widespread destruction.

Our guest today is part of a team working to predict where liquefaction may occur.

So how are past and recent earthquakes contributing to their research?

An earth-shaking discussion is up next on this episode of Technology Today.

We live with technology, science, engineering, and the results of innovative research every day.

Now, let's understand it better.

You're listening to the Technology Today podcast presented by Southwest Research Institute.

Hello and welcome to Technology Today.

I'm your host, Lisa Benia.

Our guest today is visiting San Antonio from Rockville, Maryland in the Washington, D.C. area.

He's here to talk about earthquakes and better predicting their impact, specifically where

they will trigger liquefaction. Dr. John Stomatikos is a Southwest Research Institute

Geologist and Geophysicist, cutting to the core of earthquakes with groundbreaking science.

Thanks for joining us, John.

Oh, you're welcome. So our buzzword today is liquefaction. So tell us what is liquefaction?

So liquefaction occurs when soils of certain types, especially soils that are saturated in water,

lose their strength. And during earthquakes, these soils

lose their strength because the shaking, the repeated cycles of the shaking, basically pump up the water

to the point where the grains or the sand grains or the whatever component parts of the soil are no

longer in contact. And basically the soil then behaves as a liquid.

So what type of damage can liquefaction cause?

So in the large examples of damage, it's very extensive.

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