Earthquake vulnerability assessment of A 40-inch cruce oil pipeline in the Central United States

ABSTRACT

A 40-inch diameter crude oil pepiline runs from St James, Louisiana. to a terminal near Patoka, Illinois over a distance of 635 miles. This pipelines delivers more that 1.000.000 barrels of crude oil per day, primarilyfrom gulf of Mexico wells and overseas sources, to refineries in the Midwest, The pipeline passes in close proximity to the New madrid Seismic Zone, which is located principally in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri. A general assessment of the vulnerability of the 40-inch pipeline to seismic hazards such as liquefaction (lateralspreading and flow slides), landslides (i.e., slope instability), and ground shaking effects (above-ground facilities)was recently conducted. The effects of two levels of earthquakes were evaluated, one with a recurrence interval of 100 years and the other having an intensity equal to the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquake sequence (AU)