## 1 Introduction  
Earthquake damage generally occurs in structures built on soft sediments rather than firm bedrock. The most important factors that cause structural damage as a result of the seismic waves produced by earthquakes are the behavior and engineering properties of the layers in the soil profile where the building foundation is located. Whereas the amplitude of seismic waves increases as the seismic waves move through soft soils, the amplitude decreases in firm soils. The increase in the amplitude of seismic waves is defined as soil amplification. As the amplification effect of soil is a very important feature in terms of soil-structure interactions in earthquake-sensitive areas, it is extremely important to know the dynamic behavior of soils when designing earthquake-resistant structures. Seismic methods are used to determine these features in situ. These methods include generating elastic waves at small deformation levels, where soils exhibit elastic behavior, and detecting velocities from wave arrival times. As the wave propagation speed depends on the physical properties of the ground, the obtained seismic waves can provide information about the dynamic behavior of the soils. If the wave propagation velocities of the layers in any soil section are known, then other parameters showing soil behavior can be found based on these velocities. Through the use of seismic methods, the shear wave velocity (\(V_{s}\)) is measured at low deformation levels in the field. The shear wave velocity is a very important parameter in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering. It is one of the most important input parameters for representing the stiffness of the soil layers [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8]. Additionally, important engineering features in the ground, such as the small-strain shear modulus (\(G_{\rm max}\)), can be determined [9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16]. The small-strain shear modulus is calculated according to the following equation:  
\[G_{\rm max}=\gamma V_{s}^{2} \tag{1}\]where \(\gamma\) is the total mass density of the soil. However, there are several methods of measuring the shear wave velocity, which include both field and laboratory tests. The field tests have many advantages over the laboratory tests and are always preferable [14]. Field tests, such as the seismic reflection test, seismic refraction test, spectral analysis of surface waves (SASWs) test, multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASWs) test, and seismic cross-hole test are commonly used to determine the shear wave velocity [2]. The shear wave velocity determined via seismic methods can also be identified using the standard penetration test (SPT) blow count (SPT-N), for economic reasons. There are often difficulties in determining the V\({}_{8}\) value for every location in the field, and overcoming these difficulties incurs both time and economic losses. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [2] state that the determination of the shear wave velocity in the field is not often economically feasible in urban areas for microzonation studies. This is also due to the nonavailability of the free space that is necessary as per the technical requirements for such field tests. In addition, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [2] noted that these tests are also not used, or are avoided, by many soil investigation agencies due to cost considerations, a lack of specialized personnel, and the high noise levels caused. For this reason, reliable empirical relationships between the SPT blow count (SPT-N) and V\({}_{8}\) values are often preferred to speed up studies [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 17]. Canakkale, located in the northwest of Turkey, is one of the cities that has undergone rapid development in the last 15 years (Figure 1). During this rapid development, dangerous land with liquefaction potential has been zoned for development, often without urban planning, and without any soil stabilization precautions taken. The Canakkale residential area is largely located on Quaternary alluvial deposits carried by the Saricay stream.