2015年4月25日尼泊尔廓尔喀M_S8.1级地震强地面运动

2015年4月25日尼泊尔廓尔喀地区发生MS8.1级地震,本文分析了加德满都强震台站的强地震动记录特征,其水平向地震动表现为明显的脉冲地震动,脉冲周期约为6.0s,反映了近场地震动的方向性效应;处于深厚沉积层上的加德满都谷地对地震动有一定的放大作用,且主震的场地峰值频率向低频段偏移,出现明显的场地非线性反应;采用随机有限断层方法模拟的空间地震动分布与宏观地震烈度图符合较好,可以为分析宏观震害提供参考;通过与尼泊尔设计反应谱对比,得出在短周期与长周期段,加德满都台站的水平向地震动的反应谱远高于设计反应谱,说明即使严格按照尼泊尔建筑抗震规范设计施工的建筑结构也难以抵御此次地震的破坏。     

2015年尼泊尔Gorkha地震强地面运动记录分析

2015年4月25日在尼泊尔Gorkha地区发生MW7.8地震,距离发震断层约11 km的KATNP台站完整记录了主震的加速度时程.本文根据KATNP台站记录的加速度数据分析了Gorkha地震的地震动特征.结果表明Gorkha地震在KATNP台站处产生的水平向峰值加速度为0.17 g,竖直向峰值加速度为0.19 g,该数值小于科学家们对如此大规模地震产生的地震动的预期,初步推测这可能是由加德满都山谷产生的非线性响应造成的（Dixit et al., 2015）;地震在KATNP台站处产生了地表永久位移,其中竖向永久位移为131.9 cm,水平向永久位移的绝对值为159.2 cm,方向为南偏西19°（199°）,据此可简单推算出断层走向约为289°（109°）.地震产生了脉冲型地震动,影响因素有盆地效应、地震破裂的向前的方向性效应以及滑冲效应,其中盆地效应的周期约为5 s左右,方向性效应产生的速度脉冲的周期约为8 s左右.加速度反应谱显示在0.5 s和5.0 s左右各有一个峰值,前者是由地震破裂的脉冲式滑移产生的大量高频地震动造成的,后者是由于盆地效应和地震破裂的方向性效应造成的.基于阿里亚斯烈度计算的地震动持时约在36~46 s之间,小于与其规模相当的地震产生的地震动持时,并且不同方向上的地震动持时可能与地震破裂方向有关.阿里亚斯烈度随时间的变化比较简单,也反映了Gorkha地震是一次连续的、能量释放相对简单的地震事件.     

Microzonation of Potenza (Southern Italy) in terms of spectral intensity ratio using joint analysis of earthquakes and ambient noise

A temporary seismic network composed of 11 stations was installed in the city of Potenza (Southern Italy) to record local and regional seismicity within the context of a national project funded by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC). Some stations were moved after a certain time in order to increase the number of measurement points, leading to a total of 14 sites within the city by the end of the experiment. Recordings from 26 local earthquakes (M_l 2.2−3.8 ) were analyzed to compute the site responses at the 14 sites by applying both reference and non-reference site techniques. Furthermore, the Spectral Intensity (SI) for each local earthquake, as well as their ratios with respect to the values obtained at a reference site, were also calculated. In addition, a field survey of 233 single station noise measurements within the city was carried out to increase the information available at localities different from the 14 monitoring sites. By using the results of the correlation analysis between the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios computed from noise recordings (NHV) at the 14 selected sites and those derived by the single station noise measurements within the town as a proxy, the spectral intensity correction factors for site amplification obtained from earthquake analysis were extended to the entire city area. This procedure allowed us to provide a microzonation map of the urban area that can be directly used when calculating risk scenarios for civil defence purposes. The amplification factors estimated following this approach show values increasing along the main valley toward east where the detrital and alluvial complexes reach their maximum thickness.     

Soil characteristics and site effect assessment in the city of Delhi (India) using H/V and f–k methods

Local site conditions substantially affect the characteristics of seismic waves and its potential to cause earthquake damage. To accurately identify the variation of seismic hazard at different locations within the cities, measurements from a three-component station may be used for estimating the resonance frequencies and evaluate the expected level of damage at each site. This information can also be complemented with array measurements of ambient noise in order to estimate the V_s profiles and characterize the corresponding sediment layers at each site.     

Stochastic finite-fault simulation of ground motion from the August 11, 2012, <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">w</Emphasis></Subscript> 6.4 Ahar earthquake,northwestern Iran

In this study, the 11 August 2012 M _w 6.4 Ahar earthquake is investigated using the ground motion simulation based on the stochastic finite-fault model. The earthquake occurred in northwestern Iran and causing extensive damage in the city of Ahar and surrounding areas. A network consisting of 58 acceleration stations recorded the earthquake within 8–217 km of the epicenter. Strong ground motion records from six significant well-recorded stations close to the epicenter have been simulated. These stations are installed in areas which experienced significant structural damage and humanity loss during the earthquake. The simulation is carried out using the dynamic corner frequency model of rupture propagation by extended fault simulation program (EXSIM). For this purpose, the propagation features of shear-wave including \( {Q}_s \) value, kappa value \( {k}_0 \), and soil amplification coefficients at each site are required. The kappa values are obtained from the slope of smoothed amplitude of Fourier spectra of acceleration at higher frequencies. The determined kappa values for vertical and horizontal components are 0.02 and 0.05 s, respectively. Furthermore, an anelastic attenuation parameter is derived from energy decay of a seismic wave by using continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for each station. The average frequency-dependent relation estimated for the region is \( Q=\left(122\pm 38\right){f}^{\left(1.40\pm 0.16\right)}. \) Moreover, the horizontal to vertical spectral ratio \( H/V \) is applied to estimate the site effects at stations. Spectral analysis of the data indicates that the best match between the observed and simulated spectra occurs for an average stress drop of 70 bars. Finally, the simulated and observed results are compared with pseudo acceleration spectra and peak ground motions. The comparison of time series spectra shows good agreement between the observed and the simulated waveforms at frequencies of engineering interest.     

Site response in Tecoman,Colima, Mexico—II. Determination of subsoil structure and comparison with observations

In a companion paper local transfer functions were estimated at Tecoman using earthquake and microtremor data. In this paper, the subsoil structure at this city is investigated using seismic refraction and cross-correlation of noise records as a case study. P- and S-wave refraction profiles were measured at five sites within the city. Standard analysis constrained only very shallow layers. The P-wave refraction deployment was also used to record ambient vibration. These data were processed using an extension of the SPAC (SPatial AutoCorrelation (Aki, 1957) [1]) method; cross-correlation is computed between station pairs and the results are inverted to obtain a phase velocity dispersion curve. Penetration depth was larger than that from the refraction experiments but the shear-wave velocity of the basement could not be determined. For this reason, additional microtremor measurements were made using broad band seismometers with a larger spacing between stations. The results allowed to constrain the shear-wave velocity of the basement. Site amplification computed for the final profiles compare well with observed ground motion amplification at Tecoman. The case of Tecoman illustrates that even a simple subsoil structure may require crossing data from different experiments to correctly constrain site effects.     

Frequency-dependent rupture process,stress change,and seismogenic mechanism of the 25 April 2015 Nepal Gorkha <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript> 7.8 earthquake

On 25 April 2015, an M _w 7.8 earthquake occurred on the Main Himalaya Thrust fault with a dip angle of ~ 7° about 77 km northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. This Nepal Gorkha event is the largest one on the Himalayan thrust belt since 1950. Here we use the compressive sensing method in the frequency domain to track the seismic radiation and rupture process of this event using teleseismic P waves recorded by array stations in North America. We also compute the distribution of static shear stress changes on the fault plane from a coseismic slip model. Our results indicate a dominant east-southeastward unilateral rupture process from the epicenter with an average rupture speed of ~3 km s^?1. Coseismic radiation of this earthquake shows clear frequency-dependent features. The lower frequency (0.05–0.3 Hz) radiation mainly originates from large coseismic slip regions with negative coseismic shear stress changes. In comparison, higher frequency (0.3–0.6 Hz) radiation appears to be from the down-dip part around the margin of large slip areas, which has been loaded and presents positive coseismic shear stress changes. We propose an asperity model to interpret this Nepal earthquake sequence and compare the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation with that in subduction zones. Such frequency-dependent radiation indicates the depth-varying frictional properties on the plate interface of the Nepal section in the main Himalaya thrust system, similar to previous findings in oceanic subduction zones. Our findings provide further evidence of the spatial correlation between changes of static stress status on the fault plane and the observed frequency-dependent coseismic radiation during large earthquakes. Our results show that the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation is not only found for megathrust earthquakes in the oceanic subduction environment, but also holds true for thrust events in the continental collision zone.     

The aftermath of 2011 Van earthquakes: evaluation of strong motion, geotechnical and structural issues

October 23rd, 2011 M _L 6.7 (M _w 7.2 KOERI) Tabanli-Van Earthquake caused damage in a widespread area specifically in the settlement regions throughout the Lake Van. A number of 58 buildings totally collapsed during the shake with 52 of them however, reported to be in Ercis district. 17 days after this destructive event, another earthquake of M _L 5.6 hit the region again on the 9th of November having the epicentral location at Edremit district. The second earthquake mostly affected the central region of Van province with a number of 25 totally collapsed buildings and furthermore it significantly increased the existing structural damages. Strong motion records from both earthquakes and their impacts on structures as well as geotechnical issues are studied in this paper. Extensive liquefaction triggered lateral spread, landslide and slope failure cases were observed mainly at non-residential areas. Soil amplification is evaluated to be one of the main reasons for the heavy damage occurred in Ercis. Furthermore, site investigations and damage assessment performed after each earthquake proved that the observed damages are strongly correlated with insufficient qualities of structural materials, inadequate detailing and poor workmanship.     

HVSR of ambient noise in Ston (Croatia): comparison with theoretical spectra and with the damage distribution after the 1996 Ston-Slano earthquake

Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) of ambient vibrations measured in the ancient town of Ston (Croatia) on 99 locations, are shown to be well matched to the theoretical ones computed for body-waves as well as for the surface waves. This match is poorer for sites on the slopes of nearby hills. The ratios of measured peak horizontal ground acceleration during the damaging earthquake in 1996 (M _L = 6.0) and the ones obtained using empirical attenuation laws is approximately equal to the mapped value of the dynamic amplification factor determined on the basis of observed HVSR in the vicinity of the accelerometric station. The HVSR of the accelerogram is very similar to the HVSR of the ambient noise. The damage to the building stock in the old town centre caused by the earthquake series of 1996 is closely related to the estimated soil amplification and its fundamental frequency. More measurements in buildings are needed to arrive at confident conclusions about possible soil-structure resonance.     

THE COSEISMIC SOURCE SLIP AND COULOMB STRESS TRIGGERING OF 2015 NEPAL GORKHA MW7.9 AND KODARIMW7.3 EARTHQUAKE BASED ON InSAR MEASUREMENTS

According to the structure of the Himalayan orogenic belt, a low-angle antilistric thrust-slip fault model is used to simulate the ramp on the rupture portion of the Main Himalayan Fault. Based on descending Alos -2 and Sentinal -1 data, we invert for the coseismic slip models of the Gorkha earthquake and its largest aftershock, Kodari earthquake. In contrast to the inversion using Alos -2 or Sentinal -1 separately, the joint inversion of both data sets has stronger constraint for the deep slip and can obtain more details in Gorkha earthquake. The rupture depth obtained by joint inversion can be as deep as 24km underground, cutting across the locking line to the transition of locked and the creeping zone. The largest slip is as large as 4.5m appearing 17km underground and the dip angle is between 3°and 10°. Gorkha and Kodari earthquakes have the similar focal mechanisms, both of which are mainly thrusting, and yet some right-lateral slip component in Gorkha earthquake. The inversion results reveal that slip models of the Nepal mainshock and its largest aftershock are complementary in space and the Kodari earthquake occurs in the gaps of slip in Gorkha earthquake. The epicenter of the Kodari earthquake is just right in the transitive zone of the positive and negative Coulomb stress change, where the Coulomb stress change can reach 0.4MPa. We thus argue that Kodari earthquake has been triggered by the Gorkha earthquake.     

Long period microtremors, microseisms and earthquake damage: Northridge, CA, earthquake of 17 January 1994

Three studies of site amplification factors, based on the recorded aftershocks, and one study based on strong motion data, are compared one with another and with the observed distribution of damage from the Northridge, CA, earthquake of 17 January 1994 (M_L=6.4). In the epicentral area, when the peak ground velocities are larger than v_m≈15 cm/s, nonlinear response of soil begins to distort the amplification factors determined from small amplitude (linear) wave motion. Moving into the area of near-field and strong ground motion (v_m>30 cm/s), the site response becomes progressively more affected by the nonlinear soil response. Based on the published results, it is concluded that site amplification factors determined from small amplitude waves (aftershocks, small earthquakes, coda waves) and their transfer-function representation may be useful for small and distant earthquake motions, where soils and structures respond to earthquake waves in a linear manner. However in San Fernando Valley, during the Northridge earthquake, the observed distribution of damage did not correlate with site amplification determined from spectra of recorded weak motions. Mapping geographical distribution of site amplification using other than very strong motion data, therefore appears to be of little use for seismic hazard analyses.     

Inferred ground motions on Guadeloupe during the 2004 Les Saintes earthquake

Accurate estimates of the ground motions that occurred during damaging earthquakes are a vital part of many aspects of earthquake engineering, such as the study of the size and cause of the uncertainties within earthquake risk assessments. This article compares a number of methods to estimate the ground shaking that occurred on Guadeloupe (French Antilles) during the 21st November 2004 (M _w 6.3) Les Saintes earthquake, with the aim of providing more accurate shaking estimates for the investigation of the sources of uncertainties within loss evaluations, based on damage data from this event. The various techniques make differing use of the available ground-motion recordings of this earthquake and by consequence the estimates obtained by the different approaches are associated with differing uncertainties. Ground motions on the French Antilles are affected by strong local site effects, which have been extensively investigated in previous studies. In this article, use is made of these studies in order to improve the shaking estimates. It is shown that the simple methods neglecting the spatial correlation of earthquake shaking lead to uncertainties similar to those predicted by empirical ground-motion models and that these are uniform across the whole of Guadeloupe. In contrast, methods (such as the ShakeMap approach) that take account of the spatial correlation in motions demonstrate that shaking within roughly 10 km of a recording station (covering a significant portion of the investigated area) can be defined with reasonable accuracy but that motions at more distant points are not well constrained.     

Seismic assessment of two multi-tiered pagodas damaged by the 2015 Nepal earthquake

A seismic assessment of two multi-tier pagodas by numerical analysis is presented herein.The Changu Narayan temple and the Kumbeshwar temple in Nepal are used as the case studies.Both pagodas are built of brick masonry in earthen mortar,with timber columns and crossbeams.The Changu Narayan temple is a two-tier pagoda,and was seriously damaged during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.The Kumbeshwar temple is a five-tier pagoda,and its top-tier collapsed due to the Gorkha earthquake.A seismic assessment was carried out using finite element(FE)analysis.The FE models were prepared,and dynamic identification tests and penetrometer tests were conducted.Pushover analysis and nonlinear dynamic analysis were performed as part of the seismic assessment.The main shock of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake was considered as the input accelerograms.The behavior between the two pagodas was compared with the collapse mechanisms and damage patterns observed in the actual structures.The comparison suggested common structural features of multi-tier pagodas.This study is dedicated to providing a better understanding of the seismic behavior of multi-tier pagoda-type structures and provides suggestions for their effective analysis.     

Site amplification effects as an explanation for the intensity anomaly in the Hanyuan Town during the Wenchuan <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript> 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 between 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.     

浙江省文泰震区地震滑坡危险性评估

地震滑坡灾害的震前预测与震后快速评估已成为减轻地震次生灾害的重要手段之一。本文使用简化Newmark模型,设定地震震级(M_S5.0),利用区域地质图、数字高程模型等基础数据,考虑地形对地震动的放大效应,对文泰震区潜在同震滑坡区域开展评估工作。研究表明,干燥与饱和状态下,设定地震作用下研究区内地震滑坡高危险区均主要分布在距设定震中15km以内的范围内,其分布与区内岩土体处于临界稳定状态的分布趋势相同。区内水库坝址与水库库体未受到潜在同震滑坡的影响,划定的重点关注区内位于潜在滑坡体下方的千秋门村、驮加村、高西村、杜山村、南峤村、包坑村、龙前村、新厂村以及各级公路易受到同震滑坡的影响,应提升重点关注区内承灾体的风险防范能力,尽可能减少潜在同震滑坡对区内生命财产安全造成的威胁。     

S-wave velocity structures of sediments estimated from array microtremor records and site responses in the near-fault region of the 1999 Chi-Chi,Taiwan earthquake

The 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake, M_W = 7.6, caused severe damage in the near-fault region of the earthquake. In order to evaluate site effects in the near-field strong motions we estimate S-wave velocity structures of sediments at four sites using array records of microtremors. We also recalculated S-wave velocity structures at other four sites previously reported. To show the validity of the estimated S-wave velocity structures we separate empirical site responses from aftershock records using the generalized inversion method and show the agreement between empirical and theoretical site responses. We also show an observed fact that suggests soil nonlinearity during the Chi-Chi earthquake by comparing horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVRs) for main shock records with HVRs for aftershock records. Then we calculate one-dimensional equivalent-linear site responses using the estimated S-wave velocity structures and the main shock records observed on the surface. It is found that site amplification due to thick (about 6 km) sediments is one of the important factors for explaining the long-period velocity pulses of about 5 to 10 sec observed at sites in the footwall during the Chi-Chi earthquake. It is also found that the theoretical site responses of shallow soft sediments at sites that sustained severe damage in the hanging wall shows significant amplification around 1 sec. As the amplitude of velocity pulses with period around 1 sec is most critical in causing damage to ordinary buildings of moderate heights, our results suggest that the 1-sec period velocity pulses, amplified by the site response of shallow sediments should contribute to the severe damage during the Chi-Chi earthquake.     

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 _p 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 V _s20 (the average uppermost-20 m shear wave velocity) shows good correlation. A distance measurement called the asperity distance D _Aspt 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 of PGA > 300 cm/s² or PGV > 20 cm/s, and only one station coded 51SFB has evidence of soil nonlinear behavior in the aftershocks.     

Site Response Evaluation Using the H/V Ratio at the Yan-Liau Station in Hualien, Taiwan

—?Four days after the December 13, 1990 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake (M _L = 6.9), a temporary array of fifteen triaxial digital accelerographs was deployed in the epicenter area to monitor aftershocks. Approximately 600 earthquakes triggered this array during the three-month deployment period. The Yan-Liau station (S63) alone recorded 162 events. Most of the accelerograms at S63 exhibit resonance. We have estimated site responses at the Yan-Liau station using both the single-station spectral ratio (or H/V ratio) method and the traditional spectral ratio method that compares ratios at a soil site with those at a reference hard rock site. Based on site response analyses of S waves and coda waves of ground motion recordings, both types of waves show that the H/V ratio provide a good estimate at the resonant frequency although the site amplification factor is overestimated. In addition, the study of microtremor is also a good alternate for estimating the site predominant frequency. While the ground acceleration (or PGA) gradually increases, the resonant frequency shifts to lower frequencies.     

The influence of the 3D morphology and cavity network on the seismic response of Castelnuovo hill to the 2009 Abruzzo earthquake

During the Abruzzo earthquake (6.IV.2009, M_W = 6.3), the village of Castelnuovo, lying on an elliptical hill about 60 m high, underwent an intensive damage (I_MCS = 9–10), that could be partly ascribed to the topographic amplification and to the presence of an underground cavity network. To verify these hypotheses, the seismic response of the hill was carefully investigated adopting both 2D and 3D finite difference numerical models. Analyses were carried out using a detailed geotechnical model, defined on the basis of a comprehensive field investigation (boreholes, DH, HVSR, ERT) and accurate laboratory tests (RC-TS). The reference input motion was reproduced considering the time history of the mainshock recorded at an accelerometric station close to the epicenter, conveniently deconvoluted to the bedrock and scaled in amplitude to the site of Castelnuovo. The results of the numerical analyses, expressed in terms of distribution of the amplification factor of peak acceleration and Housner intensity, proved that the topographic effects significantly influenced the ground motion at surface, whereas the role of cavities seemed to be negligible.     

VS30, site amplifications and some comparisons: The Adapazari (Turkey) case

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of V_S30 in site amplifications in the Adapazari region, Turkey. To fulfil this aim, amplifications from V_S30 measurements were compared with earthquake data for different soil types in the seismic design codes. The Adapazari area was selected as the study area, and shear-wave velocity distribution was obtained by the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASWs) method at 100 sites for the top 50 m of soil. Aftershock data following the Mw 7.4 Izmit earthquake of 17 August 1999 gave magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.6 at six stations installed in and around the Adapazari Basin, at Babalı, Şeker, Genç, Hastane, Toyota and Imar. This data was used to estimate site amplifications by the reference-station method. In addition, the fundamental periods of the station sites were estimated by the single station method. Site classifications based on V_S30 in the seismic design codes were compared with the fundamental periods and amplification values. It was found that site amplifications (from earthquake data) and relevant spectra (from V_S30) are not in good agreement for soils in Adapazari (Turkey).