29 Jurnal Kejuruteraan 36(1) 2024: 29-36 https://doi.org/10.17576/jkukm-2024-36(1)-04 A Study on the Potential of Sand Liquefaction Hazard at Chukai Sentral, Terengganu Using Plaxis 2D Siti Fatimah Sadikon * , Nurul Ashikin Eshri & Juliana Idrus Center for Civil Engineering studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia * Corresponding author: sitifatimah@uitm.edu.my Received 17 April 2023, Received in revised form 6 August 2023 Accepted 30 October 2023, Available online 30 January 2024 ABSTRACT An earthquake is classified as a natural disaster of mother nature. Sometimes, it cannot be predicted when it will occur and difficult to estimate the striking force values and the period of incident. The effect of the earthquake may catastrophic if the magnitude is more than 6 Richter. It had been proved by previous event, an earthquake could cause a huge impact towards the soil condition especially when the saturated soil is soft or loose since the propagation of shear wave and compression could induced the soil liquefaction and gave an effect towards excess pore pressure and effective stress of the soil that may affect the stability of infrastructure such as dam, embankment, and bridge. This study was conducted to analyse the horizontal displacement of soil due to earthquake and to evaluate the possibility of liquefaction at Chukai Sentral, Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia. The study was conducted using Plaxis-2D software based on Mohr-Coulomb soil model at magnitude of 5.4 Richter. The Mohr-Coulomb model was selected as its failure occurs when the shear stress acting on the soil reaches a critical value and the shear strength is related to the effective stress acting on it. The analysis was concentrated on the mesh deformation and horizontal displacement. The result shows the mesh deformation and horizontal displacement obtained in the boreholes not more than 6 mm. It is considered as a small deformation and will not trigger to the potential of liquefaction to that area. It can be concluded that the earthquake magnitude of 5.4 Richter is unable to disturb the natural resistance of the soil and structure due to their stiff layer proportion. Keywords: Liquefaction; Plaxis 2D; Horizontal displacement INTRODUCTION Earthquake is the worst geological catastrophe that can cause ground shaking, soil failure, structure failure and even loss of life. Fortunately, Malaysia with its tectonically stable location has only recorded few and minor strikes of earthquake force. Currently, Peninsular Malaysia has recorded few data by experiencing shaking force (Shuib et al. 2017; Nazaruddin & Duerrast 2021) due to nearby active tectonic and fault rupture especially Sumatra Fault Zone and Sunda Plate. Due to the nearby active activity of “Ring of Fire”, it is possible to estimate huge magnitude of an earthquake from the active plate and fault friction that could potentially cause Malaysia towards seismic risk. Seismic force propagation in soil might lead towards soil failure especially liquefaction. Liquefaction happens when the pore water pressure in soil layer rapidly changes during a brief period when the soil layer is struck by the shaking amplitude produced by an earthquake epicenter. Changes in pore water pressure are influenced by the transmitting wave frequency and period, as well as the decreasing in soil strength and effective stress. Liquefaction is the phenomenon in which the shear strength or stiffness of the soil diminishes due to sudden increase of pore water pressure and reduction of mean effective stress in the saturated cohesionless soil during the earthquake ground motion. Due to reduction of strength and the increase of capillary between the soil particle, the soil will experience floating and displaced horizontally. Referring to Lu et al. (2020), soil liquefaction can occur when the strength and stiffness of the soil are diminished