To study the liquefaction potential of sand surrounding bucket foundations, centrifuge experiments were carried out. Results have shown that the sand layer around a bucket foundation softens or liquefies under vertical dynamic load when the load amplitude is over a critical value. The liquefaction potential decreased in horizontal direction from the side wall and in vertical direction from the surface of sand layer. The thickness of the completely liquefied sand layer increased with the increase of load amplitude. The affected area which has obvious liquefaction potential is almost the same for a given bucket under different load amplitudes.