## 1 Introduction  
Earthquakes can be caused by various triggers, of which among the most common are tectonic plate movements releasing their energy within or along capable geological faults [1, 2]. The earthquake-induced soil liquefaction causes a variety of damages [3], including the partial or complete destruction or collapse of buildings, severe damages of the road networks and further fundamental infrastructures [4, 5, 6]. Therefore, such a hazard appears to be one of the most relevant issues nowadays in geotechnical and geological engineering, based on numerous seismic movements due to ground vibrations [7, 8]. This has led to the development of new techniques that allow to evaluate the strata characterizing them. There are several simplified methods that were developed from some databases of field records in places where the phenomenon of liquefaction occurred [9, 10]. The most fundamental and frequently used are in situ testing techniques, such as the standard penetration test (SPT), the cone penetration test (CPT), and the shear wave velocity measurements [11; 12]. For the current research, we have used the methodology based on the SPT trial as according to [PERSON] and [PERSON] [13], there is confirmation between the SPT database and the CPT-based approach for the liquefaction susceptibility analysis of soil layers [3], being the method that has been commonly used in most countries [14; 15; 16]. There are several investigations regarding the SPT test, where the compactness of the lithologies of the soil can be determined as well as the variability of its properties [17]. The number of blows of the SPT has been used as a parameter that allows determining the resistance of sandy soils to liquefaction [18]. The conditions of young soils that correspond to the Holocene contain relatively unfavorable environments for geotechnical designs, as they lack the ability to provide resistance capable of withstanding direct loads [19]. The approach based on SPT for the determination of the liquefaction potential reflects several conditions that makes it one of the most used methods, allowing to know the history of stresses and deformations, the structure of the soil, the horizontal effective stress [18], as well as the combination of relative density and vertical stress, factors that influence resistance to liquefaction in sands [20]. The SPT is considered a shear strength test in undrained conditions and due to the fast deformation rate as well as due to the low cost, it allows obtaining more data, generating a larger universe of samples [21]. The SPT-based technique has been shown to be effective in saturated soils of narrow valley sedimentary environments. In the study area of the current research being situated in western, coastal Ecuador, within the Chone canton (province of Manabi), as a result of what has already been mentioned, collapses of buildings and failures in the pavement structures were evidenced and nicely documented [22]. In present day, the analyses of earthquake environmental effects require intensity assessment as well as more detailed geotechnical data, allowing mitigation measures and emergency response plans to be better informed about the hazards related specifically to earthquakes [23]. There are investigations performed on liquefaction and earthquake-induced soil failures [24; 25]. The initial studies about the liquefaction phenomenon started in the early 1960s of the last century due to the 1964 earthquake in Alaska and Niigata, presenting a very high number of considerable damages among these faults in slopes, bridges and foundations [26]. Subsequently, elaborated liquefaction risk maps in areas susceptible to this phenomenon obtained a great relevance for decision makers and site planners. These maps result from the calculation of the liquefaction potential (LPI) and the cumulative frequency distribution of the LPI in the different soil layers, giving an approach to the evaluation of the quantitative results when evaluating liquefaction [27].