Regional Finite-Fault Source Model for Development of Ground Motion Attenuation Relationship in Sichuan, China

The attenuation relationship of ground motion based on seismology has always been a front subject of engineering earthquake.Among them,the regional finite-fault source model is very important.In view of this point,the general characteristics of regional seism-tectonics,including the dip and depth of the fault plane,are emphasized.According to the statistics of regional seism-tectonics and focal mechanisms in Sichuan,China,and the sensitivity of estimated peak ground acceleration(PGA)attenuation is analyzed,and the dip angle is taken as an average of 70°.Based the statistics of the upper crustal structure and the focal depth of regional earthquakes,the bottom boundary of the sedimentary cover can be used as the upper limit for estimating the depth of upper-edge.The analysis shows that this value is sensitive to PGA.Based on the analysis of geometric relations,the corresponding calculation formula is used,and a set of concepts and steps for building the regional finite-fault source model is proposed.The estimation of source parameters takes into account the uncertainty,the geometric relationship among parameters and the total energy conservation.Meanwhile,a set of reasonable models is developed,which lay a foundation for the further study of regional ground motion attenuation based on seismology.

Study of the attenuation relationship for the Wenchuan M_s 8.0 earthquake

Prediction of peak ground acceleration is an essential element in engineering seismology and it has received great attention in last few decades. In this paper, a comprehensive database of the strong-motion records of the 2008 great Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake is analyzed to investigate the seismic attenuation relationship and the directivity effects. In contrast to most existing seismic attenuation models, the proposed model considers explicitly the directivity effect which has primary influence on the magnitude of ground motion. Bayesian model updating is used to obtain the model parameters and the associated uncertainty. Comparative study is performed with the well-known Boore-Joyner-Fumal empirical formula. Results show that consideration of the directivity effect is vital in modeling the seismic attenuation relationship.

Development of Design Response Spectra Based on Various Attenuation Relationships at Specific Location

Peninsular Malaysia is located and lies in a low seismic region. Although Malaysia is not located in the active fault seismic area, it is closed to the Sumatran active seismic zones. Tall building are fIequently felt the tremor generated fTom Sumatran subduction and fault zones especially in the west cost of Peninsular Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Existing design response spectra was developed based on attenuation relationship for each subduction and fault zone. In this study, the design response spectra were developed based on various attenuation relationships for selected location in Kuala Lumpur area, namely, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Petaling Jaya and Bandar Puteri Puchong. The development of design response spectra based on various attenuation relationships is more reliable in selecting the appropriate attenuation relationship for the study area. Seven attenuations have been chosen and results show that Megawati et al. are the most appropriate attenuation relation for fault zone, where the predicted PGA （peak ground acceleration） is 0.0187 g which is the proposed PGA value for this study area. This study also found that most of soil in the study area can be categorized into SD （stiff soil） according to site classification in the NEHRP 2000 Provision/UBC 97. Bandar petaling Jaya was found to be highest AF （amplification factor） of 3.74 for stiff soil and Mutiara Damansara with AF of 2.67 for very dense soil or soft rock. The proposed design response spectra for each location were developed based on UBC 1997 （Uniform Building Code 1997）. The peak RSA （response spectrum acceleration） of 0.30 g for soil type SD for Bandar Petaling Jaya is the maximum level of acceleration on the soil surface with a period range of 0.10 to 0.52 seconds. All these values can be used for the seismic safety evaluation of existing structures and as a guideline in designing new structures to resist future earthquake, within the study area.

Directivity Effect on PGV Attenuation Relationships in Silakhor Earthquake （2006, Mw6.1）

Rupture directivity effect causes spatial variation in strong ground motion parameters. It causes difference between the strike- normal （V.） and strike-parallel （Vp） components of horizontal ground motion amplitudes. These variations become significant for strong ground motion velocity and the authors have developed a modification to define directivity effect factor to account for the effect of rupture directivity in empirical velocity attenuation relations which are based on modeling Silakhor earthquake, using finite element method by ANSYS. The ground motion parameters that are modified include ratio of Vn/Vp component of horizontal velocity and Vn component to average horizontal velocity （V）. The ratio of Vn to Vp is large in both the forward directivity direction, where velocity is larger, and in the backward directivity direction, where velocity is smaller. Therefore the authors expected that the Vn/Vp was mainly controlled by directivity angle. Also the variation of fault normal velocity to average horizontal velocity ratio by directivity angle （0） is defined from earthquake modeling. It shows Vn/V is controlled by directivity angle, distance between the site, epicenter and rupture length. This ratio has the same trend in Silakhor earthquake strong ground velocity data. In this paper the equation for Vn/Vp variations by directivity angle is recommended. The authors used Somervill et al. （1997） directivity model parameters as （R/L） cos2 ~ to define directivity effect on Vn/V ratio and therefore directivity factor is determined to account in near field empirical strong ground velocity attenuation relationships.

Ground motion attenuation relation for small to moderate earthquakes in Fujian region, China

We collect 1974 broad-band velocity records of 94 earthquakes (ML=2.84.9, △=13462 km) from seven stations of the Fujian Seismic Network from March 1999 to March 2007. Using real-time simulation, we obtain the corresponding acceleration and then adopt different models to analyze the seismic data. As a result, a new attenuation relationship between PGA and PGV of the small and moderate earthquakes on bedrock site in Fujian region is established. The Yongchun earthquake occurred recently verifies the attenuation relationship well. This paper provides a new approach for studying the ground motion attenuation relationship using velocity records.

A new attenuation model of near-fault ground motions with consideration of the hanging wall effect in the Wenchuan earthquake

The hanging wall effect is an important factor that impacts the characteristics of strong ground motions in near-fault areas. Based on a residual analysis of ground motion parameters characterizing the hanging wall effect and in recognition of the nature of the effect, many models have been developed. In this study, after a comprehensive analysis of two existing models, a new model is proposed and used to model the hanging wall effect in horizontal peak ground acceleration （PGAH） and spectral acceleration （SAH） at a period of 0.1s in the Wenchuan earthquake. Finally, comparisons between the modeling results of the hanging wall effect in the Wenchuan earthquake and the results predicted by using Abrahamson and Silva＇s NGA model （AS NGA） indicate that the AS NGA model predicts a much higher hanging wall effect than the model developed in this paper. Furthermore, the AS NGA model predicts a large hanging wall effect even at great distances, while the proposed model more accurately captures the trend of the effect.

Parameter Fitting of Seismic Intensity Attenuation Model in Xinjiang

By using the existing historical earthquake investigation data in Xinjiang,this paper obtained the envelope curves of isoseismal maps of 103 destructive earthquakes occurring from 1716 to 2010 after digitization of the data. The author summarized the seismic intensity attenuation laws in the Xinjiang region with the multiple regression fitting method. The intensity attenuation function of the elliptical model was provided and the fitting results in different periods and areas were compared. Finally, the intensity attenuation relationship in the Xinjiang region was obtained by the method of constraining the start and end of the attenuation curves.

Reconstruction of earthquake hazard in regions of sparse seismic monitoring

Studying strong motion records and the spatial distribution of ground shaking is of great importance in understanding the underlying causes of damage in earthquakes. Many regions in the world are either not instrumented or are sparsely instrumented. As such, significant opportunities for motion-damage correlations are lost. Two recent and damaging earthquakes belong to the class of lost opportunities, namely the Kashmir （Pakistan） earthquake of October 2005 and the Yogyakarta （Indonesia） earthquake of May 2006. In this paper, an overview of the importance of supply and demand studies in earthquake-stricken regions is given, followed by two examples of investigative engineering seismology aimed at reconstructing the hazard from sparse data. The paper closes with a plea for responsible authorities to invest in seismic monitoring networks in the very near future.

Orientation effect on ground motion measurement for Mexican subduction earthquakes

The existence of the principal directions of the ground motion based on Arias intensity is well-known. These principal directions do not necessarily coincide with the orientations of recording sensors or with the orientations along which the ground motion parameters such as the peak ground acceleration and the pseudo-spectral acceleration （PSA） are maximum. This is evidenced by the fact that the maximum PSA at different natural vibration periods for horizontal excitations do not correspond to the same orientation. A recent analysis carried out for California earthquake records suggests that an orientation-dependent ground motion measurement for horizontal excitations can be developed. The main objective of this study is to investigate and provide seismic ground motion measurements in the horizontal plane, including bidirectional horizontal ground motions, for Mexican interplate and inslab earthquake records. Extensive statistical analyses of PSA are conducted for the assessment. The analysis results suggest that similar to the case of California records, the average behavior of the ratio of the PSA to the maximum resulting PSA can be approximated by a quarter of an ellipse in one quadrant; and that the ratio can be considered to be independent of the value of the maximum resulting PSA, earthquake magnitude, earthquake distance and the focal depth. Sets of response ratios and attenuation relationships that can be used to represent a bidirectional horizontal ground motion measurement for Mexican interplate and inslab earthquakes were also developed.

Study on comparison between absolute and relative input energy spectra and effects of ductility factor

Based on 266 strong ground motion records, an attenuation relationship was developed for both absolute and relative input energy spectra. The comparison of the two kinds of input energy spectra constructed from the attenuation relationship was made in this paper. The results show that there is little difference between the absolute input energy spectra and relative input energy spectra at the periods of 0.5-1.0 s for elastic systems and at the period of 0.5 s for inelastic systems. The absolute input energy spectra are much larger than relative input energy spectra in very short period range but some less than relative input energy spectra in long period range. It is also found that the ductility factor has a significant effect on both absolute and relative input energy spectra. The absolute input energy spectra increase with the increasing of ductility factor in the period range of less than 0.3 s but decrease in the period range of larger than 0.3 s. The absolute input energy spectra for different ductility factor are almost equivalent at the period about 0.3 s, but for relative input energy spectra, the period is about 0.5 s. The effect of ductility on the relative input energy spectra in the short period range is much larger than that on the absolute input energy spectra, especially on the softer site class.

Geometric effects resulting from the asymmetry of dipping fault:Hanging wall/ footwall effects

Root-mean-square distance Drms with characteristic of weighted-average is introduced in this article firstly. Drms can be used to capture the general proximity of a site to a dipping fault plane comparing with the rupture distance Drup and the seismogenic distance Dseis. Then, using Drup, Dseis and Drms, the hanging wall/footwall effects on the peak ground acceleration (PGA) during the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake are evaluated by regression analysis. The logarithm residual shows that the PGA on hanging wall is much greater than that on footwall at the same Drup or Dseis when the Drup or Dseis is used as site-to-source distance measure. In contrast, there is no significant difference between the PGA on hanging wall and that on footwall at the same Drms when Drms is used. This result confirms that the hanging wall/footwall effect is mainly a geometric effect caused by the asymmetry of dipping fault. Therefore, the hanging wall/footwall effect on the near-fault ground motions can be ignored in the future attenuation analysis if the root-mean-square distance Drms is used as the site-to-source distance measure.

Seismic Zonation of Central-Southern Hunan Province, China

Based on basic data used in compiling the Zonation Map of Earthquake Ground Motion Parameters in China, recent research on seismic safety assessment for engineering sites in central-southern Hunan Province, the new attenuation relationships of moderate earthquakes and the background seismicity data obtained by modern instrumental earthquake records since 1970, a new result of seismic zonation of central-southern Hunan Province is provided. The result shows that the area with PGA=0.05g has obviously increased in the new map compared with the previous one and is relatively consistent with the seismic disaster characteristics of moderate earthquakes that took place in the central-southern part of Hunan in recent years. This result will benefit the research and compilation of a new-generation seismic zonation map of earthquake ground motion parameters and the seismic hazard assessment in the moderate earthquake active regions in the central and eastern part of China.