Soft sediments and damage pattern: a few case studies from large Indian earthquakes vis-a-vis seismic risk evaluation

India is prone to earthquake hazard; almost 65 % area falls in high to very high seismic zones, as per the seismic zoning map of the country. The Himalaya and the Indo-Gangetic plains are particularly vulnerable to high seismic hazard. Any major earthquake in Himalaya can cause severe destruction and multiple fatalities in urban centers located in the vicinity. Seismically induced ground motion amplification and soil liquefaction are the two main factors responsible for severe damage to the structures, especially, built on soft sedimentary environment. These are essentially governed by the size of earthquake, epicentral distance and geology of the area. Besides, lithology of the strata, i.e., sediment type, grain size and their distribution, thickness, lateral discontinuity and ground water depth, play an important role in determining the nature and degree of destruction. There has been significant advancement in our understanding and assessment of these two phenomena. However, data from past earthquakes provide valuable information which help in better estimation of ground motion amplification and soil liquefaction for evaluation of seismic risk in future and planning the mitigation strategies. In this paper, we present the case studies of past three large Indian earthquakes, i.e., 1803 Uttaranchal earthquake (Mw 7.5); 1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake (Mw 8.1) and 2001 Bhuj earthquake (Mw 7.7) and discuss the role of soft sediments particularly, alluvial deposits in relation to the damage pattern due to amplified ground motions and soil liquefaction induced by the events. The results presented in the paper are mainly focused around the sites located on the river banks and experienced major destruction during these events. It is observed that the soft sedimentary sites located even far from earthquake epicenter, with low water saturation, experienced high ground motion amplification; while the sites with high saturation level have undergone soil liquefaction. We also discuss the need of intensifying studies related to ground motion amplification and soil liquefaction in India as these are the important inputs for detailed seismic hazard estimation.     

基于集集强震群序列地震特征的地震追踪预测

分析集集强震群前余震序列的 7年 (1993/ 0 9/ 2 1— 2 0 0 0 / 0 9/ 2 0 )中震级规模在M =3 0以上的地震目录 ,可以找到前震类型、孕震空区特征、孕震条带特征、前震丛集性活动与信号震特征、主震前平静以及余震序列的二次余震等至少 6项清楚的地震序列特征。利用已发展出的年度强震趋势分析步骤的经验 ,佐以依据地震序列特征进一步加以追踪的观念 ,以集集地震序列分析为例 ,试图将地震趋势分析由年的时间尺度 ,追踪到更短的月的时间范围 ;并尝试建立台湾地区西部地震带浅源强震的追踪分析步骤 ,并为以测震学为基础的地震预测提供逼近短临时间尺度的分析方法。     

福建数字地震台网与模拟台网记录的震相差异初析

本文通过对数字台网记录的地震震相和波形的分析,初步比较了模拟台网与数字台网记录波形,认为数字台网地震波震相具有高频成份表现突出,及初动清晰的特点,并对此作了进一步的探讨。     

Seismogenic Origin of the Ancient Avdat Ruins,Negev Desert,Israel

The present communication addresses the potential use of damage features, observed in the ancient ruins of the Avdat archeological site (Negev Desert, Israel) as a tool to identify the seismic origin of the destruction there and roughly to determine the direction of seismic wave propagation. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

纵波作用下边坡动力响应规律研究

地震工程的观点认为水平地震力是引起岩土体破坏的决定性因素,竖向地震力的影响则微不足道。鉴于汶川地震中表现出竖向地震力对边坡和建筑造成极大破坏,本文利用FLAC软件对不同坡高、坡角的边坡在不同周期、振幅的纵波作用下边坡动力响应规律做了数值模拟研究。结果表明:坡高较低时,振动加速度在1/2坡高以下范围内随高程逐渐增大, 1/2坡高以上则保持不变,当坡高增大时,振动加速度变化出现律动性,坡顶附近较其他部位存在明显的放大; 坡角的增大会造成振动加速度放大幅度的增大; 振动加速度随动力振幅的增大而增大,并呈明显的线性关系; 振动加速度随地震波周期的增大逐渐减小。     

顺层岩质边坡地震动力响应研究

地震作用下边坡的动力响应研究是边坡动力稳定分析的基础,利用FLAC3D有限差分软件建立一个顺层岩质边坡动力数值模拟模型,对其在竖向和水平向地震耦合作用下的动力响应全过程进行研究。研究表明,地震竖向和水平向耦合作用模拟比简单的模拟水平向振动更加接近实际情况,对岩土体的破坏更大;顺层岩质边坡在耦合地震作用下存在垂直放大和临空面放大作用;坡面水平向和竖向加速度均随高程增加呈增大趋势,在结构面处增大特别明显;竖向地震波产生的水平与竖向拉裂是触发斜坡体产生初期崩滑破坏的主控因素;边坡动力响应特征值的放大效应表明,其放大系数值从大到小依次是：竖向加速度＞水平加速度＞竖向速度＞水平速度;耦合地震波作用下,随着av /aH的增大,坡面监测各点横向位移基本呈增大趋势,说明竖向地震作用起了重要的破坏作用。     

Review of soil liquefaction characteristics during major earthquakes of the twenty-first century

Liquefaction, which can be defined as a loss of strength and stiffness in soils, is one of the major causes of damage to buildings and infrastructure during an earthquake. To overcome a lack of comprehensive analyses of seismically induced liquefaction, this study reviews the characteristics of liquefaction and its related damage to soils and foundations during earthquakes in the first part of the twenty-first century. Based on seismic data analysis, macroscopic phenomena of liquefaction (e.g., sand boiling, ground cracking, and lateral spread) are summarized, and several new phenomena related to earthquakes from the twenty-first century are highlighted, including liquefaction in areas with moderate seismic intensity, liquefaction of gravelly soils, liquefaction of deep-level sandy soils, re-liquefaction in aftershocks, liquid-like behavior of unsaturated sandy soils. Additionally, phenomena related to damage in soils and foundations induced by liquefaction are investigated and discussed.     

A detailed investigation of block dynamic sliding by the discontinuous deformation analysis

An extensive examination of the discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) in block dynamic sliding modeling is carried out in this paper. Theoretical solutions for a single block sliding on an arbitrarily inclined plane by applying the horizontal/vertical seismic loadings to the sliding block as acceleration time histories or to the base as constraint displacement time histories are derived. As compared with the theoretical solutions, for a single block sliding, the DDA predicts the sliding displacements and block interaction forces accurately under various base incline angles and friction angles under both the harmonic loadings and a real seismic loading. The vertical seismic component may influence the block sliding displacements to different extent, and the DDA can capture these phenomena successfully and give accurate results. For the calculation of the single block relative sliding, both the theoretical and the DDA solutions indicate that applying the seismic accelerations as constraint displacement time histories (derived by integrating the seismic accelerations twice) to the base is equivalent to applying the seismic accelerations as volume forces to the sliding block in the opposite directions. The DDA modeling also demonstrates that this conclusion still stands for the case of multi‐block sliding. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Volcanic earthquakes of Kamchatka: classification, nature of source and spatio-temporal distribution

Volcanic earthquakes on Kamchatka can be divided into two large groups: earthquakes with depths of 0–40 km generated by stresses which arise during magma migration in the Earth's crust under volcanos (the first group), and the earthquakes directly connected with the eruptions (volcanic tremor, explosive earthquakes, etc.—the second group). This paper presents a review of some energetic, spectral and spatio-temporal characteristics of the Kamchatkan volcanic earthquakes of the first group and their relationship with volcanic phenomena.

Seismicity related to volcanic activity has the following specific features: a local and predominantly swarm-like pattern of earthquake origination; iteration of earthquake swarms in the same seismically active zones; many shallow and relatively small events; a small magnitude limit (up to 5.5–6); the existence of longer-period variations of volcanic earthquake foci as compared to the tectonic one; and a comparatively high value of the slope of the earthquake recurrence plot. At the same time, similarity in behaviour of some parameters of the seismic regime during the preparation and development of eruptions and prior to large earthquakes, as well as the destruction of samples, are noted.     

基于震害统计的城市地下空间地震安全性评价

建筑物的地震安全性是城市规划和建设过程首先要回答的问题。我国城市地震安全性评价的方法理论多针对地上建筑物,而对地下空间的地震安全性研究较为薄弱,严重滞后于城市发展对地下空间的需求。活断层是诱发地震、导致建筑物破坏的的直接因素。考虑到空间关系上,地下空间与断层之间的交互关系为相交或相离。因此,本文将地下空间分为两类:与断层相交的地下空间称为跨断层地下空间,远离断层的地下空间称为远离断层地下空间。本文尝试将断裂带同震地表破裂、地震峰值加速度、地震烈度等地表地震安全性评价考量的要素与地下空间埋藏深度建立联系,并在此基础上总结基于震害统计的地下空间地震安全性评价方法。最后,本文选取地下空间利用需求较高的深圳和北京地区为实例进行介绍。     

Seismotectonic features of the September 24, 1999 Ahram earthquake in the Zagros,Iran

The September 24, 1999 Ahram Earthquake in southwestern Iran was moderate in energy (M = 5.0–5.5 from different sources) and did not entail significant destruction and casualities. The tectonic position of the source zone, surficial seismic dislocations, and results of macroseismic and seismological study of this seismic event in the junction zone of the Zagros Fold System and the piedmont plain are described in the paper, including data on rejuvenated ancient ruptures exposed in two trenches excavated across the strike of the regional Kazerun-Borazjan Fault. One of the trenches was driven a few months before and the other a year after this seismic event. The conclusion is drawn that new deformations in the Quaternary near-surface sediments observed at the walls of both trenches may be regarded as unusual seismic ruptures of the Ahram earthquake. These ruptures, described as proved primary seismic dislocations of such a moderate seismic event, are a unique phenomenon in the world seismotectonic practice. The localization of the earthquake source zone in the Kazerun-Borazjan Fault Zone with complex kinematics makes it possible to study the internal structure of one of the most important tectonic lines of the Zagros Fold Region.     

Landslides and other surface effects induced by the 1997 Umbria–Marche seismic sequence

This paper both describes and discusses landslides and other ground effects induced by the September–October 1997 seismic sequence, which struck the Umbria and Marche regions (Central Italy). Three main events occurred on 26 September at 00:33 and 09:40 GMT, and 14 October with magnitude M_w equal to 5.8, 6.0 and 5.4, respectively; furthermore hundreds of minor but significant events were also recorded. The authors examined an area of some 700 km² around the epicentre (Colfiorito). Primary and secondary effects were observed, including surface faulting phenomena, landslides, ground fractures, compaction and various hydrological phenomena. Surface evidence of faulting reactivation was found along the well-known capable faults, to a total length of ca. 30 km. Landslides, which were the most recurrent among the phenomena induced, consisted mainly of rock falls and subordinately of rotational and translational slides, which were generally mobilised by the inertia forces during the seismic motion. The percentage of reactivated old landslides decreased as the distance from the epicentral zone increased; a similar decrease had been observed for the 1980 Irpinia earthquake (Southern Italy). The ground fracture distribution was consistent with the regional structural setting and the general pattern of macroseismic field. Numerous episodes of hydrological changes were observed within the most severely damaged area. All this evidence confirms the relevance of the study of ground surface effects for achieving a more complete evaluation of seismic hazard.     

Effect of partial mining of shaft protection pillar in terms of reliability index

ABSTRACT

The work presents calculations of shaft support reliability index during partial extraction of protection pillar deposit and the related seismic phenomena. It has been assumed that the probability of failure caused by seismic phenomena depends on the velocity random variable of the shaft support vibrations. The random vibration velocity is a function of random variables of energy, shock distance and vibration frequency. Estimations of probability distributions for energy and frequency have been based on the actual measurement data from a mine. Failure probability has been estimated by means of methods based on so-called Hasofer-Lind reliability index β.     

Analysis of explosions and seismic phenomena based on electromagnetic cracking of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic plates

Electromagnetic emission caused by fracturing of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic crystals in plates and its application for remote sensing of explosions and natural seismic and volcanic phenomena were studied theoretically. The difference of emission from piezoelectric and piezomagnetic plates in cases of explosions versus seismic and volcanic phenomena enables use of this analysis method for phenomenon identification. The analysis herein is based on a model of a plate of finite size with a uniformly moving crack. It has been demonstrated that time-dependent mechanical stresses, which exist in the vicinity of the crack apex, are sources of an alternating electromagnetic field. The nonstationary mechanical stresses in the vicinity of the moving crack cause nonstationary polarization currents, which include both potential and vortical components in the case of a piezoelectric crystal but only the vortical component in the case of a piezomagnetic crystal. In both cases, it is possible to observe the nonstationary magnetic dipole which is the source of the excited magnetic field in the near zone. Such a dipole is created due to the motion of the crack apex and depends on the specific crystalline symmetry. Comparison of the two types of crystal (piezoelectric and piezomagnetic) shows that emission from the piezomagnetic crystal is more effective. A very important result is that it is possible to observe the difference between seismic and volcanic versus industrial phenomena through analysis of the unloading wave, which is absent in the case of industrial phenomena. This opens the possibility to identify the type of disaster and take the correct decision.     

Source Parameters of Old Earthquakes: Semi-Automatic Digitization of Analog Records and Seismic Moment Assessment

Recovering seismic information contained in old analog records could increase our knowledge of seismic source characteristics and the seismicity of a region. This is particularly important in zones with low to moderate seismicity.To extract the available information, it is necessary to digitize the seismic records. This is not an easy task especially owing to the generally poor quality of the original records, with illegible or missing parts. However some exceptions were found in the records of a few seismological stations in Germany, Sweden and France.This paper presents an example of the recovering of source parameters and can be divided in two parts: the first one presents a simple semi-automatic technique for digitization of old analog seismic records, developed using commercial software on a PC; the second part describes the methodology of assessing the seismic moment, using empirical and theoretical relations, as well as the seismic source dimensions.The earthquake selected to illustrate this procedure is the 23 April 1909 Benavente (Portugal) earthquake. This earthquake occurred in the Lower Tagus Valley region and caused great destruction in the meizoseismal area. It is the biggest earthquake that occurred during this century in the central part of the country and its magnitude has been estimated between 6.6 and 7.6.The digitization procedure allowed the recovery of seismic information contained in old analog records, in particular, the seismic moment estimation. The results obtained indicated that 7.6 was a very high value for the magnitude of the 23 April 1909 earthquake, suggesting that the magnitude reported in the Portuguese catalogue is overestimated. The estimated moment magnitude is 6.0.     

相干体技术在识别小断层和陷落柱中的应用

相干体技术是利用三维数据体来比较局部地震波形的相似性,相干值较低的点与反射波波形不连续性相关。对相干数据体作水平切片图,可揭示断层、岩性体边缘、陷落柱、不整合等地质现象。以山西省某三维地震数据体为例,利用Geoframe软件计算相关体,借以解决煤田地质勘探中识别小断层和陷落柱等地质问题。     

地震勘探技术在新疆准东煤田的应用

新疆准东煤田主要煤层为赋存于中侏罗系西山窑组地层中的B煤组煤层,受区域构造和沉积环境的影响,该煤组煤层存在分叉合并、露头、缺失、火烧等地质现象,煤层结构比较复杂。以准东煤田西山窑组地层中的B煤组煤层为例,介绍了上述地质现象在地震时间剖面上的表现特征及解释原则,并采用地震反演技术对该区煤层厚度及煤层结构进行了解释,其精度与实际揭露相比,吻合程度较高。     

华北岩石圈减薄与克拉通破坏研究的主要学术争论

华北岩石圈减薄是近十年来国内外研究的热门课题,但关于岩石圈减薄的具体时间、减薄幅度、空间分布范围、机制及其构造控制因素,多有争论.本文对上述问题进行了全面的回顾与讨论,内容包括:(1)是克拉通破坏还是岩石圈减薄;(2)古生代以来华北克拉通岩石圈地幔时代与壳幔解耦;(3)岩石圈减薄与克拉通破坏发生的时间;(4)岩石圈减薄的垂向幅度;(5)克拉通破坏在中国东部的空间分布;(6)克拉通破坏机制;(7)克拉通破坏的地球动力学原因;(8)华北克拉通破坏在世界上的特殊性等.文后,汇编了近10余年来华北岩石圈减薄与克拉通破坏研究的重要文献.     

综合物探技术在两水滑坡勘察中的应用

滑坡是地质灾害中最常见的、分布范围最广,产生危害最严重的一种。结合工区地质情况和地球物理特征,本文选用了高密度电法、瑞雷波法以及地震映像法在滑坡区进行研究和应用。研究表明,相比常规的勘察手法,采用综合物探方法对滑坡进行勘察,实验表明:高密度电法对地下的电性分布有较好的的反映,但无法直接判断滑动面的几何形态;地震映像法能够较为直观的反映地下弹性界面的起伏情况,对不良地质现象反映明显;瑞雷波法对浅层有较高的分辨率,可以不受地层速度的干扰,能够较详细的探测滑坡体的内部情况。不仅解决了单一物探结果的多解性问题,提高了结果的准确性,而且工作效率高、相对成本较低。     

水平地震力作用下顺倾结构面对岩质边坡破坏影响分析

基于断裂理论和波动理论对水平地震力作用下对岩质边坡顺倾结构面的破坏建立了数学模型,在不考虑结构面填充物的影响下分析了结构面的长度、埋深及倾角在水平地震动力作用下对边坡破坏的影响。分析结果表明,当结构面埋深与长度h/L相差不大时,对于一定的水平地震加速度a,结构面埋深和长度越大,边坡在地震作用下越容易破坏;当结构面埋深和长度一定时,边坡破坏随着水平地震加速度的增大而增强。另外,结构面的倾角在增大过程中,岩体所受的拉应力逐渐增大,剪应力则表现为先增大,后减小。这是由于当结构面的埋深与长度一定时,随着倾角的增大,地震作用下边坡是从剪切破坏逐渐向拉张破坏过渡。该模型对地震作用时边坡稳定性分析具有一定的参考意义。