Abstract: Crushable volcanic soils, such as pumice sands, originating from previous eruptions are deposited in various parts of the world, such as in the central part of North Island, New Zealand. Since they are often encountered in engineering projects, their geotechnical characterization is very important. Due to the highly crushable nature of the pumice sand components, there are concerns on the applicability of current empirical correlations, derived primarily from hard-grained sands, to evaluate the liquefaction potential of pumice-rich soils. To understand their liquefaction characteristics and dynamic properties, high-quality soil samples are obtained from various pumice-rich sites in the North Island using diverse sampling techniques. The samples are tested in the laboratory using cyclic triaxial apparatus and bender elements. Moreover, the pumice content of each sample is quantified using a recently developed technique that correlates the degree of particle crushing of the samples to the amount of pumice particles present. The laboratory results clearly show that the liquefaction behavior of pumice-rich soils is different from that observed in normal (hard-grained) sands. From the results obtained, a chart relating the shear wave velocity to the liquefaction resistance are developed as a function of the pumice content.