Innovative Earthquake Soil Dynamics

"The book Innovative Earthquake Soil Dynamics is very appropriately titled and reflects the unique background and extensive expertise of the author, Dr. Takaji Kokusho, Emeritus Professor, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan. The book is composed of six chapters that can be grouped into four categories: background material (Chapters 1-3), site amplification and dynamic soil-structure-interaction (Chapter 4), liquefaction and related phenomena (Chapter 5), and earthquake-induced slope failure (Chapter 6). The background material presented in Chapters 1-3 gives an in depth coverage of elastic wave propagation in soil, dynamic soil properties, and soil modeling and sets the stage for the topics covered in the latter chapters.

Innovative Earthquake Soil Dynamics is unique from other books on geotechnical aspects of earthquake engineering in that it includes a detailed coverage of soil dynamics, as related to earthquake engineering, in addition to the oft-presented empirical relationships. The book is innovative in that it presents the material from both "traditional" (e.g., stress-, strain-, and force-based perspectives) and "energy" perspectives, with the latter largely derived from the author's own extensive research. The author shows that energy is central to site amplification and dynamic soil-structure-interaction and can be used as a simple index for evaluating liquefaction and related phenomena and earthquake-induced slope failures.

Another unique aspect of Innovative Earthquake Soil Dynamics stems from the author having received his higher education in both the United States (Duke University) and Japan (University of Tokyo), and having spent the first half of his career working for the electric power industry in Japan and the second half of his career as a professor at Chuo University. As a result, the material presented in the book reflects research and engineering procedures from both Japan and the United States, as well as other countries, and all the material presented builds to applications in engineering practice. The book is equally suited to serve as a text for graduate courses in geotechnical aspects of earthquake engineering and soil dynamics or as a reference book for practicing engineers."

Russell A. Green, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.