Site amplification effects as an explanation for the intensity anomaly in the Hanyuan Town during the Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake

The Hanyuan Town is located approximately 200 km from the macro-epicenter of the great Wenchuan earthquake. However, it is within the only Intensity VIII zone, surrounded by a region of Intensity VI. The objective of this study was to investigate this high-intensity anomaly with respect to the site amplifications in the Hanyuan Town. The base inputs were derived from the records at a nearby strong-motion station because no records were available from the town. The characteristics of the subsurface formations and their dynamic properties at a typical site in the town were obtained by drilling, field tests and laboratory tests. Seismic response and parametric sensitivity analyses of the site were conducted using Shake 91, and the results were compared with the provisions for rare earthquakes from the Chinese Code for Seismic Design of Buildings （GBJ11-89）. The results showed that the average peak acceleration at the site during the Wenchuan earthquake is similar to the code-specified value under rare earthquakes, that the corresponding spectral accelerations for periods betwcen approximately 0.35 and 0.75 s are significantly stronger than those specified by the code and that the average amplification factor at the site is significantly higher than the mean value of the site class. These findings indicate that the high-intensity anomaly in the town was primarily caused by site amplification effects from the unique structure of the soil strata.

A simulation-based nonlinear site amplification model for ground-motion prediction equations in Japan

In this manuscript we present a nonlinear site amplification model for ground-motion prediction equations(GMPEs)in Japan,using a site period-based site class and a site impedance ratio as site parameters.We used a large number of shear-wave velocity profiles from the Kiban-Kyoshin network(KiK-net)and the Kyoshin network(K-NET)to construct the one-dimensional(1D)numerical models.The strong-motion records from rock-sites in Japan with different earthquake categories and taken from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center dataset were used in this study.We fit a set of 1D site amplification models using the spectral amplification ratios derived from 1D equivalent linear analyses.Parameters of site impedance ratios for both linear and nonlinear site response were included in the 1D model.The 1D model could be implemented into GMPEs using a new proposed adjustment method.The adjusted site amplification ratios retain the nonlinear characteristics of the 1D model for strong motions and match the linear amplification ratio in GMPE for weak motions.The nonlinearity of the present site model is reasonably similar to that of the historical models,and the present site model could satisfactorily capture the nonlinear site response in empirical data.

Site amplification in the Lijiang Valley,Yunnan Province

The site amplifications for three stations, Libin (LIBI), Baisha (BASH) and Yulong (YULG) situated respectivelyin the southern, middle and northern parts of Lijiang Valley, are obtained by analyzing the S-wave soil/bedrockand microtremor horizontal/vertical spectral ratios. The data are digital recordings for the aftershocks of the Lijiang Ms=7.0 earthquake on February 3, 1996. In the frequency range of 1-4 Hi, the S-wave soil/bedrock spectralratio of E-W component for LIBI is the largest and amounts to 4.5. The microtremor soil N-S/vertical (V) spectralratio is approximate to l, E-W/V is about 4.5 and the same with above soil/bedrock spectral ratio. It is shown thatthe vertical and N-S components of microtremor have not been amplified by the soil and the Nakamura's method isapplicable. With this method, the microtremor spectral ratios for BASH and YULG are further evaluated. Theyhave similar characteristics with that of LIBI. In above frequency range, both N-S/V ratios are approximate to 1,while the E-W/V ratio is about 6 for BASH, 4.5 for YULG. Ljiang Valley is characterized by the trans-valleydirectional site response.

Site effects by generalized inversion technique using strong motion recordings of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

The generalized inversion of S-wave amplitude spectra from the free-field strong motion recordings of the China National Strong Motion Observation Network System （NSMONS） are used to evaluate the site effects in the Wenchuan area. In this regard, a total of 602 recordings from 96 aftershocks of the Wenchuan earthquake with magnitudes of M3.7-M6.5 were selected as a dataset. These recordings were obtained from 28 stations at a hypocenter distance ranging from 30 km to 150 km. The inversion results have been verified as reliable by comparing the site response at station 62WUD using the Generalized Inversion Technique （GIT） and the Standard Spectral Ratio method （SSR）. For all 28 stations, the site predominant frequency F and the average site amplification in different frequency bands of 1.0-5.0 Hz, 5.0-10.0 Hz and 1.0-10.0 Hz have been calculated based on the inversion results. Compared with the results from the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio （HVSR） method, it shows that the HVSR method can reasonably estimate the site predominant frequency but underestimates the site amplification. The linear fitting between the average site amplification for each frequency band and the V20 （the average uppermost-20 m shear wave velocity） shows good correlation. A distance measurement called the asperity distance DAspt is proposed to reasonably characterize the source-to-site distance for large earthquakes. Finally, the inversed site response is used to identify the soil nonlinearity in the main shock and aftershocks of Wenchuan earthquake. In ten of the 28 stations analyzed in the main shock, the soil behaved nonlinearly, where the ground motion level is apparently beyond a threshold ofPGA 〉 300 cm/s^2 or PGV 〉 20 cm/s, and only one station coded 51SFB has evidence of soil nonlinear behavior in the aftershocks.

Probabilistic assessment of surface level seismic hazard in India using topographic gradient as a proxy for site condition

This paper presents spatial variation of seismic hazard at the surface level for India,covering 6-38°N and 68-98°E.The most recent knowledge on seismic activity in the region has been used to evaluate the hazard incorporating uncertainties associated with the seismicity parameters using different modeling methodologies.Three types of seismic source models,viz.linear sources,gridded seismicity model and areal sources,were considered to model the seismic sources and different sets of ground motion prediction equations were used for different tectonic provinces to characterize the attenuation properties.The hazard estimation at bedrock level has been carried out using probabilistic approach and the results obtained from various methodologies were combined in a logic tree framework.The seismic site characterization of India was done using topographic slope map derived from Digital Elevation Model data.This paper presents estimation of the hazard at surface level,using appropriate site amplification factors corresponding to various site classes based on V_（S30） values derived from the topographic gradient.Spatial variation of surface level peak horizontal acceleration（PHA） for return periods of 475 years and 2475 years are presented as contour maps.

Site correction of ground motion in Fujian area

On the basis of the interpretation of the highresolution satellite remote sensing images, in combination with the data of engineering geological exploration and shear-wave velocity testing, the site category-zoning map of FJ area with the scale of 1：200,000 is generated according to the site classification standard of ＂Code for Seismic design of Buildings＂ of China （GB50011 2010）. By the method of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis, we obtain bedrock seismic ground motion parameters of five recurrent periods （50, 200, 500, 1000, and 2500 a） of FJ area. By using the 617 typical soil layer structures of the site classifications in FJ area, we build seismic response models of soil layers and make seismic response analysis, then obtain the statistic sample space of site amplification factors, which possess reasonable distribution and sufficient data. Considering the distribution characteristics of The Quaternary Strata in FJ area, according to the statistic zoning （mountains and coastal areas respectively） and site classifications as well as the level of bedrock importing ground motion, the site magnification-factors of ground motion in FJ area are obtained by classification statistics.

Parallel finite element modeling of earthquake ground response and liquefaction

Parallel computing is a promising approach to alleviate the computational demand in conducting large-scale finite element analyses.This paper presents a numerical modeling approach for earthquake ground response and liquefaction using the parallel nonlinear finite element program,ParCYCLIC,designed for distributed-memory message-passing parallel computer systems.In ParCYCLIC,finite elements are employed within an incremental plasticity,coupled solid-fluid formulation,A constitutive model calibrated by physical tests represents the salient characteristics of sand liquefaction and associated accumulation of shear deformations.Key elements of the computational strategy employed in ParCYCLIC include the development of a parallel sparse direct solver,the deployment of an automatic domain decomposer,and the use of the Multilevel Nested Dissection algorithm for ordering of the finite element nodes.Simulation results of centrifuge test models using ParCYCLIC are presented.Performance results from grid models and geotechnical simulations show that ParCYCLIC is efficiently scalable to a large number of processors.

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Shallow Shear-Wave Velocities for Las Vegas, Nevada, Using Sediment Type

A three-dimensional model of near-surface shear-wave velocity in the deep alluvial basin underlying the metropolitan area of Las Vegas, Nevada （USA）, is being developed for earthquake site response projections. The velocity dataset, which includes 230 measurements, is interpolated across the model using depth-dependent correlations of velocity with sediment type. The sediment-type database contains more than 1 400 well and borehole logs. Sediment sequences reported in logs are assigned to one of four units. A characteristic shear-wave velocity profile is developed for each unit by analyzing closely spaced pairs of velocity profiles and well or borehole logs. The resulting velocity model exhibits reasonable values and patterns, although it does not explicitly honor the measured shear-wave velocity profiles. Site response investigations that applied a preliminary version of the velocity model support a two-zone ground-shaking hazard model for the valley. Areas in which clay predominates in the upper 30 m are predicted to have stronger ground motions than the rest of the basin.