A modified stochastic finite-fault method for estimating strong ground motion:Validation and application

We developed a modified stochastic finite-fault method for estimating strong ground motions.An adjustment to the dynamic corner frequency was introduced,which accounted for the effect of the location of the subfault relative to the hypocenter and rupture propagation direction,to account for the influence of the rupture propagation direction on the subfault dynamic corner frequency.By comparing the peak ground acceleration(PGA),pseudo-absolute response spectra acceleration(PSA,damping ratio of 5%),and duration,the results of the modified and existing methods were compared,demonstrating that our proposed adjustment to the dynamic corner frequency can accurately reflect the rupture directivity effect.We applied our modified method to simulate near-field strong motions within 150 km of the 2008 MW7.9 Wenchuan earthquake rupture.Our modified method performed well over a broad period range,particularly at 0.04-4 s.The total deviations of the stochastic finite-fault method(EXSIM)and the modified EXSIM were 0.1676 and 0.1494,respectively.The modified method can effectively account for the influence of the rupture propagation direction and provide more realistic ground motion estimations for earthquake disaster mitigation.

Experimental investigation on basic law of rock directional fracturing with static expansive agent controlled by dense linear multi boreholes

Directional rupture is one of the difficult problems in deep rock mechanics and engineering.A directional fracturing method with static expansive agent controlled by dense linear multi boreholes is proposed.A physical experiment is designed and performed to investigate the basic laws of this method.The fracture initiation and propagation process,and the mechanism of directional fracturing are analyzed.The results indicate that a directional fracture is formed along the direction of boreholes layout through directionally fracturing with static expansive agents controlled by the dense linear multi boreholes.According to the variation of strain and the distribution of associated acoustic emission(AE)events and energy,the experiment can be divided into three stages.In the first stage,the static expansive agent expand slowly with no fracturing inside the rock.In the second stage,some initial micro-fracturing occurs inside the rock.In the third stage,a wide range of fracturing occurs inside the sample.The internal micro-fracturing planes are connected to form a macro-fracture.Finally,it propagates to the surface of the sample.The directional fracturing plane presents a relatively smooth plane with little bias but much local fluctuation.

Rupture directivity and hanging wall effect in near field strong ground motion simulation

A random synthesis procedure based on finite fault model is adopted for near field strong ground motion simulation in this paper. The fault plane of the source is divided into a number of sub-sources, the whole moment magnitude is also divided into more sub-events. The Fourier spectrum of ground motion caused by a sub-event in given sub-source, then can be derived by means of taking the point source spectrum, attenuation with distance, energy dissipation, and near surface effect, into account. A time history is synthesized from this amplitude spectrum and a random phase spectrum, and being combined with an envelope function. The ground motion is worked out by superposition of all time histories from each sub-event in each sub-source, with time lags determining by the differences between the triggering times of sub-events and distances of the sub-sources. From the example of simulations at 21 near field points in a scenario earthquake with 4 dip angles of the fault plane, it is illustrated that the procedure can describe the rupture directivity and hanging wall effect very well. To validate the procedure, the response spectra and time histories recorded at three near fault stations MCN, LV3 and PCD during the Northridge earthquake in 1994, are compared with the simulated ones.

Fracture characteristics of the 1997 Jiashi,Xinjiang, China, earthquake swarm inferred from source spectra

Broadband P and S waves source spectra of 12 M_s≥5.0 earthquakes of the 1997 Jiashi, Xinjiang, China. earthquake swarm recorded at 13 GDSN stations have been analyzed. Rupture size and static stress drop of these earthquakes have been estimated through measuring the corner frequency of the source spectra. Direction of rupture propaga- tion of the earthquake faulting has also been inferred from the azimuthal variation of the comer frequency. The main results are as follows: ① The rupture size of M_s≥6.0 strong earthquakes is in the range of 10~20 km, while that of Ms_=5.0~5.5 earthquakes is 6~10 km. ② The static stress drop of the swarm earthquakes is rather low, being of the order of 0.1 MPa. This implies that the deformation release rate in the source region may be low. ③ Stress drop of the earthquakes appears to be proportional to their seismic moment, and also to be dependent on their focal mechanism. The stress drop of normal faulting earthquakes is usually lower than that of strike-slip type earth quakes. ④ For each M_s≥6.0 earthquake there exists an apparent azimuthal variation of the comer frequencies. Azimuthally variation pattern of comer frequencies of different earthquakes shows that the source rupture pattern of the Jiashi earthquake swarm is complex and no uniform rupture expanding direction exists.

Rupture directivity effect on strong ground motion during the 12 May 2008 M_(W)7.9 Wenchuan earthquake

We focus here on the rupture directivity effect on the spatial distribution and attenuation characteristics of near-field ground motions during the 2008 MW7.9 Wenchuan earthquake.We examine the difference between the observed ground motions in and opposite the rupture directions and compare them with Next Generation Attenuation-West2(NGA-West2)ground motion prediction models.The isochrone directivity predictor is used to quantify the band-limited nature of the rupture directivity effect on strong ground motion.Our results show that the observed peak ground velocity(PGV)and spectral accelerations of periods of 1.0 s and longer are significantly amplified in the rupture direction,but de-amplified in the opposite direction affected by rupture directivity effect of this event.In contrast,the effect of rupture directivity on the observed peak ground acceleration(PGA)and periods of shorter than 1.0 s are relatively weak.The rupture directivity of this event shows clear period dependent and band limited characteristics with the strongest effect occurring around the period of 7.5 s.

Rupture process of November 6,1988,Lan-cang-Gengma,Yunnan,China,earthquake of M_s=7.6 using empirical Green’s function de-convolution method

The empirical Green's function deconvolution technique is applied to the November 6, 1988, Ms=7.6, Yunnan, China earthquake to study the rupture process of this event. An aftershock of Ms=6.3 is taken as the empirical Green's function. Recordings of these two events at six stations of China Digital Seismographic Network (CDSN) are employed. Deconvolution results show that this event is a relatively simple event. Directivity analysis indicates that the rupture was initiated at hypocenter and propagated bilaterally and nearly symmetrically towards the northwest and southeast directions with a total length of 70 km and a time duration of 19 s. The rupture velocity is estimated to be about 2.0 km/s.

Analysis on rupture feature of a great complicated earthquake in Kamchatka

The M S=7.3 earthquake of June, 8 1993, off the eastern coast of Kamchatka was very complicated in the rupture history. The rupture feature of this event was discussed by the broadband waveform modelling method as well as the combining analysis on the subevent stack and the quasi time difference. The results suggest that the rupture propagation of the event was in a strong unidirection and its main rupture processes can be expressed as: rupture nucleation→NEE→near east by north→near east by south→stop, from deep to shallow.

Seismic hazard assessment of Tehran,Iran with emphasis on near-fault rupture directivity effects

Many destructive earthquakes happened in Tehran, Iran in the last centuries. The existence of active faults like the North Tehran is the main cause of seismicity in this city. According to past investigations, it is estimated that in the scenario of activation of the North Tehran fault, many structures in Tehran will collapse. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the near field rupture directivity effects of this fault into the seismic hazard assessment of important sites in Tehran. In this study, using calculations coded in MATLAB, Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis （PSHA） is conducted for an important site in Tehran. Following that, deaggregation technique is performed on PSHA and the contribution of seis- mic scenarios to hazard is obtained in the range of distance and magnitude. After identifying the North Tehran fault as the most hazardous source affecting the site in 10000-year return period, rupture directivity effects of this fault is incorporated into the seismic hazard assessment using Somerville et al. （1997） model with broadband approach and Shahi and Baker （2011） model with narrowband approach. The results show that the narrowband approach caused a 27% increase in the peak of response spectrum in 10000-year return period compared with the conventional PSHA. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the near fault rupture directivity effects into the higher levels of seismic hazard assessment attributed to important sites.

Development of attenuation relation for the near fault ground motion from the characteristic earthquake

A composite source model has been used to simulate a broadband strong ground motion with an associated fault rupture process. A scenario earthquake fault model has been used to generate 1 000 earthquake events with a magni- tude of MwS.0. The simulated results show that, for the characteristic event with a strike-slip faulting, the character- istics of near fault ground motion is strongly dependent on the rupture directivity. If the distance between the sites and fault was given, the ground motion in the forward direction （Site A） is much larger than that in the backward direction （Site C） and that close to the fault （Site B）. The SH waves radiated from the fault, which corresponds to the fault-normal component plays a key role in the ground motion amplification. Corresponding to the sites A, B, and C, the statistical analysis shows that the ratio of their aPG is 2.15：1.5：1 and their standard deviations are about 0.12, 0.11 and 0.13, respectively. If these results are applied in the current probabilistic seismic hazard analysis （PSHA）, then, for the lower annual frequency of exceedance of peak ground acceleration, the predicted aPG from the hazard curve could reduce by 30% or more compared with the current PSHA model used in the developing of seismic hazard map in the USA. Therefore, with a consideration of near fault ground motion caused by the rupture directivity, the re- gression model used in the development of the regional attenuation relation should be modified accordingly.

Preliminary Study on the Correlation between Intensity Isoseismals and the Seismic Source Process of the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan,China

The M_S8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan caused heavy casualties and serious economic loss because of damage to engineering structures in high earthquake intensity regions. Earthquake intensity, especially in the near source region, as a macroscopic description of distribution of strong ground motions certain correlations with the earthquake source process, such as rupture directivity and the hanging-wall effect of the near-fault ground motions of this earthquake. In this article some qualitative analyses are carried out. The conclusion of this study may be useful for emergence response and rescue after earthquakes, when the strong ground motion recordings and the intensity distribution are not available immediately.

Simulation of Near-Fault Strong Ground Motion in the Beijing Region

On the basis of previous study of the 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu(M8.0) earthquake,the biggest event in history ever recorded in Beijing and its adjacent area,we made a 3-D strong ground motion simulation utilizing the staggered-grid finite differences method to study the distributions of peak ground velocity with different earthquake source models in the Beijing region.In the paper,earthquake source models and a transmission medium velocity model are established and the corresponding parameters are given in accordance to the results from a related previous study.Then,using a three-dimensional finite difference computing program of near-fault strong ground motion developed by Graves,the peak ground velocity caused by a destructive earthquake in the Beijing area is simulated.In our computation model,the earthquake source is 3km in depth,and a total number of 21,679 observation points on the ground surface are figured out.The transmission medium velocity model is composed of four stratums which are the Quaternary deposit,the upper crust,the upper part of the middle crust and the lower part of the middle crust.With the minimum grid spacing of 0.15km,a total of 2.28×106 grids are generated.Using a time step of 0.02 seconds we calculated the peak ground velocity for a duration of 8 seconds.After the analysis of the simulation results,we observed some basic characteristics of near-fault strong ground motion such as the concentration effect of near-fault peak ground velocity,rupture directivity effect,hanging wall effect,and basin effect.The results from our simulation and analysis suggest that the source and transmitting medium parameters in our model are suitable and the finite difference method is applicable to estimate the distribution of strong ground motion in the study region.

A Physics‑Based Seismic Risk Assessment of the Qujiang Fault:From Dynamic Rupture to Disaster Estimation

This study achieved the construction of earthquake disaster scenarios based on physics-based methods-from fault dynamic rupture to seismic wave propagation-and then population and economic loss estimations.The physics-based dynamic rupture and strong ground motion simulations can fully consider the three-dimensional complexity of physical parameters such as fault geometry,stress field,rock properties,and terrain.Quantitative analysis of multiple seismic disaster scenarios along the Qujiang Fault in western Yunnan Province in southwestern China based on different nucleation locations was achieved.The results indicate that the northwestern segment of the Qujiang Fault is expected to experience significantly higher levels of damage compared to the southeastern segment.Additionally,there are significant variations in human losses,even though the economic losses are similar across different scenarios.Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture,Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture,Yuxi City,Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture,and Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture were identified as at medium to high seismic risks,with Yuxi and Honghe being particularly vulnerable.Implementing targeted earthquake prevention measures in Yuxi and Honghe will significantly mitigate the potential risks posed by the Qujiang Fault.Notably,although the fault is within Yuxi,Honghe is likely to suffer the most severe damage.These findings emphasize the importance of considering rupture directivity and its influence on ground motion distribution when assessing seismic risk.

Rupture directivity of the August 3rd, 2014 Ludian earthquake(Yunan, China)

An M6.5 earthquake occurred on August 3rd, 2014 in Ludian of Yunnan Province in China, causing severe casualty and economic loss. Local broadband waveform inversion with the CAP method demonstrates that the earthquake is a strike-slip event, with the strike along 70° and 160° for the two nodal planes respectively. However, the geological structure in the epicentral region is complicated with abundant active faults, and it is challenging to identify the seismogenic fault with the focal plane solutions due to nodal-plane ambiguity. We resolved the rupture directivity by measuring the difference between centroid location and hypocenter of the Ludian earthquake with the time shift from CAP inversion, and found that the nodal plane with the strike of 160° is the ruptured fault plane. Moreover, the rupture is found to propagate from northwest to southeast.