Nonlinear soil behavior during the Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquake of 1999 from data of the Dahan vertical array

Records of the Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquake of 1999 (M _w = 7.7) obtained at the Dahan vertical array (a part of the SMART-2 array) in NE Taiwan are analyzed. The Dahan array was located at a distance of ～80 km from the fault plane of the earthquake. Using the method previously applied to the analysis of soil behavior during the Japan earthquakes in Kobe (1995) and Tottori (2000), nonlinear stress-strain relations are estimated in soil layers at depths of 0–200 m at the Dahan site for successive time intervals. The resulting soil behavior model is used for estimating variations in shear moduli and for the identification of nonlinear behavior of soil layers during an earthquake. According to the model estimates, the earthquake-related decrease in shear moduli did not exceed ～5% and the soil response was nearly linear (the amount of its nonlinear components was also no more than ～5%). The stress-strain relations describing the soil responses to the earthquakes in Kobe (1995), Tottori (2000), and Chi-Chi (1999) are similar, implying that, in principle, it is possible to describe the behavior of soils of the same type by the same stress-strain relations and predict the soil response to a future earthquake.     

Estimation of Nonlinear Soil Behavior During the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, Earthquake

The 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake (M_w = 7.6) was one of the strongest earthquakes in recent years recorded by a large number of strong-motion devices. Though only surface records are available, the obtained strong-motion database indicates the variety of ground responses in the near-fault zones. In this study, accelerograms of the Chi-Chi earthquake were simulated at rock and soil sites, and models of soil behavior were constructed at seven soil sites (TCU065, TCU072, TCU138, CHY026, CHY104, CHY074, and CHY015), for which parameters of the soil profiles are known down to depths of at least ~70 m and at 24 other soil sites, for which parameters of the soil profiles are known down to 30–40 m; all the sites were located within ~50 km from the fault. For reconstructing stresses and strains in the soil layers, we used a method similar to that developed for the estimation of soil behavior based on vertical array records. As input for the soil layers, acceleration time histories simulated by stochastic finite-fault modelling with a prescribed slip distribution over the fault plane were taken. In spite of the largeness of the earthquake’s magnitude and the proximity of the studied soil sites to the fault plane, the soil behavior at these sites was relatively simple, i.e., a fairly good agreement between the spectra of the observed and simulated accelerograms and between their waveforms was obtained even in cases where a single stress-strain relation was used to describe the behavior of whole soil thickness down to ~70–80 m during strong motion. Obviously, this is due to homogeneity in the characteristics of soil layers in depth. At all the studied sites, resonant phenomena in soil layers (down to ~40–60 m) and nonlinearity of soil response were the main factors defining soil behavior. At TCU065, TCU110, TCU115, CHY101, CHY036, and CHY039 liquefaction phenomena occurred in the upper soil layers, estimated strains achieved ~0.6–0.8%; at other stations, maximum strains in the soil layers were as high as 0.1–0.4%, according to our estimates. Thus, valuable data on the in situ soil behavior during the Chi-Chi earthquake was obtained. Similarity in the behavior of similar soils during the 1995 Kobe, 2000 Tottori (Japan), and Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquakes was found, indicating the possibility of forecasting soil behavior in future earthquakes. In the near-fault zones of the three earthquakes, “hard-type” soil behavior and resonant phenomena in the upper surface layers prevail, both leading to high acceleration amplitudes on the surface.     

Nonlinear Soil Behavior at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant During the Niigata Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake (July, 16, 2007)

Records of the Niigata Chuetsu-Oki earthquake (July, 16, 2007, M _w?=?6.6, depth ~17?km) and its aftershocks from seismic vertical arrays deployed at the territory of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant (~15?km from the fault) are used to study the soil behavior down to ~250?m during strong ground motion. Nonlinear models of soil behavior during the main shock and six aftershocks are constructed, and stresses and strains induced by the strong motion in the soil layers at various depths are estimated. The data are processed using the method developed by Pavlenko and Irikura (Bull Seismol Soc Am 96(6): 2131–2145, 2003) and previously applied for studying the soil behavior in near-fault zones during the 1995 Kobe and 2000 Tottori earthquakes. A rather good agreement between the recorded and simulated acceleration time histories testifies to the validity of the obtained vertical distributions of stresses and strains in soil layers. In the upper, softer layers (~45?m) at the territory of the plant, the shear moduli were reduced by ~30–35% during the main shock and by ~1.5–3% during the aftershocks. The constructed models of soil behavior can be used in scenario earthquake shaking maps of Japan where, based on source modeling parameters, the level of strong motion can be evaluated for the territory of the power plant in future earthquakes with various magnitudes and fault planes. Using methods of stochastic finite-fault modeling of ground motions from the Chuetsu-Oki earthquake, we estimated input motion to the soil layers during the main shock and found that it differs from the imposed motion (recorded by the deepest sensor of the vertical array) by slightly decreased (by a factor of ~1.2) low-frequency (f?<?10?Hz) spectral components.     

Joint inversion of GNSS and teleseismic data for the rupture process of the 2017 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript>6.5 Jiuzhaigou,China, earthquake

The spatio-temporal slip distribution of the earthquake that occurred on 8 August 2017 in Jiuzhaigou, China, was estimated from the teleseismic body wave and near-field Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data (coseismic displacements and high-rate GPS data) based on a finite fault model. Compared with the inversion results from the teleseismic body waves, the near-field GNSS data can better restrain the rupture area, the maximum slip, the source time function, and the surface rupture. The results show that the maximum slip of the earthquake approaches 1.4 m, the scalar seismic moment is ~ 8.0 × 10¹⁸ N·m (M_w?≈?6.5), and the centroid depth is ~ 15 km. The slip is mainly driven by the left-lateral strike-slip and it is initially inferred that the seismogenic fault occurs in the south branch of the Tazang fault or an undetectable fault, a NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip fault, and belongs to one of the tail structures at the easternmost end of the eastern Kunlun fault zone. The earthquake rupture is mainly concentrated at depths of 5–15 km, which results in the complete rupture of the seismic gap left by the previous four earthquakes with magnitudes >?6.0 in 1973 and 1976. Therefore, the possibility of a strong aftershock on the Huya fault is low. The source duration is ~ 30 s and there are two major ruptures. The main rupture occurs in the first 10 s, 4 s after the earthquake; the second rupture peak arrives in ~ 17 s. In addition, the Coulomb stress study shows that the epicenter of the earthquake is located in the area where the static Coulomb stress change increased because of the 12 May 2017 M_w7.9 Wenchuan, China, earthquake. Therefore, the Wenchuan earthquake promoted the occurrence of the 8 August 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake.     

Nonlinear identification of the soil response at Dahan downhole array site during the 1999 Chi–Chi earthquake

Records of the 1999 Chi–Chi earthquake, provided by the Dahan downhole array were analyzed, and nonlinear hysteretic stress–strain relations in the soil layers were estimated by the method previously used for studying the response of soils during the 1995 Kobe and the 2000 Tottori earthquakes. The obtained models of the soil behavior were applied for evaluating changes of the shear moduli in the soil layers and for the nonlinear identification of the soil behavior at Dahan site during the Chi–Chi earthquake. We found that reduction of the shear moduli in the soil layers did not exceed 5%, and the soil response was virtually linear. The content of the nonlinear components in the soil response was about 5% of the intensity of the response, and it was mostly due to the odd-order nonlinearities. A similarity in the stress–strain relations describing the behavior of soils during the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the 2000 Tottori earthquake, and the 1999 Chi–Chi earthquake was found, which indicates the possibility to describe the behavior of similar types of soils at different sites by similar stress–strain relations and predict soil behavior in future earthquakes.     

Atypical soil behavior during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (<Emphasis Type="Italic">М</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">w</Emphasis></Subscript> = 9)

To understand physical mechanisms of generation of abnormally high peak ground acceleration (PGA; >1g) during the Tohoku earthquake, models of nonlinear soil behavior in the strong motion were constructed for 27 KiK-net stations located in the near-fault zones to the south of FKSH17. The method of data processing used was developed by Pavlenko and Irikura, Pure Appl Geophys 160:2365–2379, 2003 and previously applied for studying soil behavior at vertical array sites during the 1995 Kobe (М _w ?=?6.8) and 2000 Tottori (М _w ?=?6.7) earthquakes. During the Tohoku earthquake, we did not observe a widespread nonlinearity of soft soils and reduction at the beginning of strong motion and recovery at the end of strong motion of shear moduli in soil layers, as usually observed during strong earthquakes. Manifestations of soil nonlinearity and reduction of shear moduli during strong motion were observed at sites located close to the source, in coastal areas. At remote sites, where abnormally high PGAs were recorded, shear moduli in soil layers increased and reached their maxima at the moments of the highest intensity of the strong motion, indicating soil hardening. Then, shear moduli reduced with decreasing the intensity of the strong motion. At soft-soil sites, the reduction of shear moduli was accompanied by a step-like decrease of the predominant frequencies of motion. Evidently, the observed soil hardening at the moments of the highest intensity of the strong motion contributed to the occurrence of abnormally high PGA, recorded during the Tohoku earthquake.     

Coseismic Slip from the 6 October 2008, M w6.3 Damxung Earthquake, Tibetan Plateau, Constrained by InSAR Observations

Coseismic deformation fields of the 6 October 2008 M _w6.3 Damxung earthquake were obtained from interferometric synthetic aperture radar by using three descending and two ascending Envisat images. Significant coseismic surface deformation occurred within 20?km?×?20?km of the epicenter with a maximum displacement of ~0.3?m along the satellite line of sight. We model a linear elastic dislocation in a homogeneous half space and use a nonlinear constraint optimized algorithm to estimate the fault location, geometry and slip distribution. The results indicate a moment magnitude M _w6.3, and the earthquake is dominated by oblique normal and right-lateral slip with a maximum slip of 2.86?m at depth of 8?km. The rupture plane is about 15?km?×?14?km with strike S190°W and dip 55° to NW, located at a secondary fault of the Southeastern Piedmont of the Nyainqentanglha Mountains. Slip on normal faults in the Tibetan Plateau contributes to the rift evolution.     

Ground deformation effects from the ~M6 earthquakes (2014–2015) on Cephalonia–Ithaca Islands (Western Greece) deduced by GPS observations

The implications of the earthquakes that took place in the central Ionian Islands in 2014 (Cephalonia, M _w6.1, M _w5.9) and 2015 (Lefkas, M _w6.4) are described based on repeat measurements of the local GPS networks in Cephalonia and Ithaca, and the available continuous GPS stations in the broader area. The Lefkas earthquake occurred on a branch of the Cephalonia Transform Fault, affecting Cephalonia with SE displacements gradually decreasing from north (~100 mm) to south (~10 mm). This earthquake revealed a near N–S dislocation boundary separating Paliki Peninsula in western Cephalonia from the rest of the island, as well as another NW–SE trending fault that separates kinematically the northern and southern parts of Paliki. Strain field calculations during the interseismic period (2014–2015) indicate compression between Ithaca and Cephalonia, while extension appears during the following co-seismic period (2015–2016) including the 2015 Lefkas earthquake. Additional tectonically active zones with differential kinematic characteristics were also identified locally.     

Assessing CPT-based methods for liquefaction evaluation with emphasis on the cases from the Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake

In the early morning (1:47 Taiwan time) of September 21, 1999, the largest earthquake of the century in Taiwan (M_w=7.6, M_L=7.3) struck this island country. The earthquake killed more than 2400 people and caused great destruction to buildings, bridges, dams, highways, and railways. One of the causes for heavy damages to the structures is soil liquefaction and ground settlement during the earthquake. In this paper, investigation of soil liquefaction and case histories of liquefaction are presented. Three CPT-based simplified methods, the Robertson method, the Olsen method, and the Juang method, are examined using the case histories derived from the Chi-Chi earthquake. The results of the comparison show that the Juang method is more accurate than the two methods in predicting liquefaction potential of soils based on the cases derived from the Chi-Chi earthquake, although all three methods are quite comparable in accuracy.     

Laboratory Characterization of Permeability and Its Anisotropy of Chelungpu Fault Rocks

In Taiwan an international project to drill into the Chelungpu fault (TCDP) was initiated after the M _w 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake in 1999. At Takeng, two vertical holes (A and B) to depths of about 2 km have been drilled through the northern portion of the Chelungpu fault system. In this study, we conducted systematic hydromechanical tests on TCDP drillcores collected from Hole-A at various depths above and below the major slip zone of the Chelungpu fault. We focus on the measurements of permeability as function of pressure and the brittle failure behavior. Evolution of permeability as a function of pressure and porosity was measured using either steady-state flow or a pulse transient technique. When subjected to an effective pressure reaching 100 MPa, permeability values of shaly siltstone samples range from 10^?16 to 10^?19 m². In comparison, permeability values of porous sandstones are at least an order of magnitude higher, ranging from 10^?14 to 10^?18 m². To characterize permeability anisotropy associated with the bedding structure of the rocks of the Chelungpu fault, cylindrical samples were taken from the TCDP drillcores along three orthogonal directions, denoted X, Y and Z respectively. Direction Z is parallel to the TCDP core axis, and the other two directions are perpendicular to the core axis, with X (N105°E) perpendicular and Y (N15°E) parallel to the strike of the bedding. In shaly siltstones, permeability values of samples cored along the strike of bedding (direction Y) can be up to 1 order of magnitude higher than those cored perpendicular to the strike of bedding (direction X). These observations indicate that permeability anisotropy is controlled by the spatial distribution of bedding in Chelungpu fault host rocks. Permeability evolution of fault rocks plays an important role in dynamic weakening processes, which are particularly pertinent to large earthquakes such as the Chi-Chi earthquake. Our experimental data on permeability and its anisotropy of TCDP core samples provide necessary constraints on fault models and proposed weakening mechanisms.     

Focal depths and mechanisms of Tohoku-Oki aftershocks from teleseismic P wave modeling

Aftershocks of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki great earthquake have a wide range of focal depths and fault plane mechanisms. We constrain the focal depths and focal mechanisms of 69 aftershocks with M _w > 5.4 by modeling the waveforms of teleseismic P and its trailing near-surface reflections pP and sP. We find that the “thrust events” are within 10 km from the plate interface. The dip angles of these thrust events increase with depth from ~5° to ~25°. The “non-thrust events” vary from 60 km above to 40 km below the plate interface. Normal and strike-slip events within the overriding plate point to redistribution of stress following the primary great earthquake; however, due to the spatially variable stress change in the Tohoku-Oki earthquake, an understanding of how the mainshock affected the stresses that led to the aftershocks requires accurate knowledge of the aftershock location.     

Evaluation of the seismic moment of the April 20, 2013 Lushan earthquake

The April 20, 2013 Lushan earthquake which occurred in Sichuan, China had only moderate thrust. However, the computed seismic moments (M ₀) for the Lushan earthquake calculated by several institutions differ significantly from 0.4 × 10¹⁹ to 1.69 × 10¹⁹ Nm, up to four times difference. We evaluate ten computed M ₀s by using normal mode observations from superconducting gravimeters in Mainland China. We compute synthetic normal modes on the basis of moment tensor solutions and fit them to the observed normal modes. Comparison of our results indicates that M ₀ is the main cause for some large differences between observations and synthetics. We suggest that a moment magnitude of M _w6.6, corresponding to a M ₀ of 0.97–1.08 × 10¹⁹ Nm, characterizes the size and strength of the seismic source of the Lushan earthquake.     

On fault evidence for a large earthquake in the late fifteenth century,Eastern Kunlun fault,China

The EW-trending Kunlun Fault System (KFS) is one of the major left-lateral strike-slip faults on the Tibetan Plateau. It forms the northern boundary of the Bayan Har block. Heretofore, no evidence has been provided for the most recent event (MRE) of the ~70-km-long eastern section of the KFS. The studied area is located in the north of the Zoige Basin (northwest Sichuan province) and was recognized by field mapping. Several trenches were excavated and revealed evidence of repeated events in late Holocene. The fault zone is characterized by a distinct 30–60-cm-thick clay fault gouge layer juxtaposing the hanging wall bedrock over unconsolidated late Holocene footwall colluvium and alluvium. The fault zone, hanging wall, and footwall were conformably overlain by undeformed post-MRE deposits. Samples of charred organic material were obtained from the top of the faulted sediments and the base of the unfaulted sediments. Modeling of the age of samples, earthquake yielded a calibrated 2σ radiocarbon age of A.D. 1489 ± 82. Combined with the historical earthquake record, the MRE is dated at A.D. 1488. Based on the over ~50 km-long surface rupture, the magnitude of this event is nearly M _w ~7.0. Our data suggests that a ~200-km-long seismic gap could be further divided into the Luocha and Maqu sections. For the last ~1000 years, the Maqu section has been inactive, and hence, it is likely that the end of its seismic cycle is approaching, and that there is a potentially significant seismic hazard in eastern Tibet.     

Stress field change around the Mount Fuji volcano magma system caused by the Tohoku megathrust earthquake, Japan

Crustal deformation by the M _w 9.0 megathrust Tohoku earthquake causes the extension over a wide region of the Japanese mainland. In addition, a triggered M _w 5.9 East Shizuoka earthquake on March 15 occurred beneath the south flank, just above the magma system of Mount Fuji. To access whether these earthquakes might trigger the eruption, we calculated the stress and pressure changes below Mount Fuji. Among the three plausible mechanisms of earthquake–volcano interactions, we calculate the static stress change around volcano using finite element method, based on the seismic fault models of Tohoku and East Shizuoka earthquakes. Both Japanese mainland and Mount Fuji region are modeled by seismic tomography result, and the topographic effect is also included. The differential stress given to Mount Fuji magma reservoir, which is assumed to be located to be in the hypocentral area of deep long period earthquakes at the depth of 15 km, is estimated to be the order of about 0.001–0.01 and 0.1–1 MPa at the boundary region between magma reservoir and surrounding medium. This pressure change is about 0.2 % of the lithostatic pressure (367.5 MPa at 15 km depth), but is enough to trigger an eruptions in case the magma is ready to erupt. For Mount Fuji, there is no evidence so far that these earthquakes and crustal deformations did reactivate the volcano, considering the seismicity of deep long period earthquakes.     

Seismic source zoning and maximum credible earthquake prognosis of the Greater Kashmir Territory,NW Himalaya

We present the seismic source zoning of the tectonically active Greater Kashmir territory of the Northwestern Himalaya and seismicity analysis (Gutenberg-Richter parameters) and maximum credible earthquake (m _max) estimation of each zone. The earthquake catalogue used in the analysis is an extensive one compiled from various sources which spans from 1907 to 2012. Five seismogenic zones were delineated, viz. Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis, Karakorum Seismic Zone, Kohistan Seismic Zone, Nanga Parbat Syntaxis, and SE-Kashmir Seismic Zone. Then, the seismicity analysis and maximum credible earthquake estimation were carried out for each zone. The low b value (<1.0) indicates a higher stress regime in all the zones except Nanga Parbat Syntaxis Seismic Zone and SE-Kashmir Seismic Zone. The m _max was estimated following three different methodologies, the fault parameter approach, convergence rates using geodetic measurements, and the probabilistic approach using the earthquake catalogue and is estimated to be M _w 7.7, M _w 8.5, and M _w 8.1, respectively. The maximum credible earthquake (m _max) estimated for each zone shows that Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis Seismic Zone has the highest m _max of M _w 8.1 (±0.36), which is espoused by the historical 1555 Kashmir earthquake of M _w 7.6 as well as the recent 8 October 2005 Kashmir earthquake of M _w 7.6. The variation in the estimated m _max by the above discussed methodologies is obvious, as the definition and interpretation of the m _max change with the method. Interestingly, historical archives (～900 years) do not speak of a great earthquake in this region, which is attributed to the complex and unique tectonic and geologic setup of the Kashmir Himalaya. The convergence is this part of the Himalaya is distributed not only along the main boundary faults but also along the various active out-of-sequence faults as compared to the Central Himalaya, where it is mainly adjusted along the main boundary fault.     

PI Forecast for the Sichuan-Yunnan Region: Retrospective Test after the May 12, 2008, Wenchuan Earthquake

The May 12, 2008, Wenchuan M _S 8.0/M _w 7.9 earthquake occurred in the middle part of the north–south seismic zone in central west China, being one of the greatest thrust events on land in recent years. To explore whether there were some indications of the increase of strong earthquake probabilities before the Wenchuan earthquake, we conducted a retrospective forecast test applying the Pattern Informatics (PI) algorithm to the earthquakes in the Sichuan-Yunnan region since 1992. A regional earthquake catalogue complete to M _L 3.0 from 01/01/1977 to 15/06/2008 was used. A 15-year long ‘sliding time window’ was used in the PI calculation, with ‘anomaly training time window’ and ‘forecast time window’ both set to 5 years. With a forecast target magnitude of M _S 5.5, the ROC test shows that the PI forecast outperforms not only random guess but also the simple number-counting approach based on the clustering hypothesis of earthquakes (the RI forecast). ‘Hotspots’ can be seen in the region of the northern Longmenshan fault which is responsible for the Wenchuan earthquake. However, when considering bigger grid size and higher cutoff magnitude, such ‘hotspots’ disappear and there is very little indication of an impending great earthquake.     

Precursory Activation of Seismicity in Advance of the Kobe, 1995, M = 7.2 Earthquake

—A succession of precursory changes of seismicity characteristic to earthquakes of magnitude 7.0–7.5 occurred in advance of the Kobe 1995, M = 7.2, earthquake. Using the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) regional catalog of earthquakes, the M8 prediction algorithm (Keilies-Borko and Kossobokov, 1987) recognizes the time of increased probability, TIP, for an earthquake with magnitude 7.0–7.5 from July 1991 through June 1996. The prediction is limited to a circle of 280-km radius centered at 33.5°N, 133.75°E. The broad area of intermediate-term precursory rise of activity encompasses a 175 by 175-km square, where the sequence of earthquakes exhibited a specific intermittent behavior. The square is outlined as the second-approximation reduced area of alarm by the "Mendocino Scenario" algorithm, MSc (Kossobokov et al., 1990). Moreover, since the M8 alarm starts, there were no swarms recorded except the one on 9–26 Nov. 1994, located at 34.9°N, 135.4°E. Time, location, and magnitude of the 1995 Kobe earthquake fulfill the M8-MSc predictions. Its aftershock zone ruptured the 54-km segment of the fault zone marked by the swarm, directly in the corner of the reduced alarm area. The Kobe 1995 epicenter is less than 50 km from the swarm and it coincides with the epicenter of the M 3.5 foreshock which took place 11 hours in advance.     

Simulation of Ground Motion from Strong Earthquakes of Kamchatka Region (1992–1993) at Rock and Soil Sites

To estimate the parameters of ground motion in future strong earthquakes, characteristics of radiation and propagation of seismic waves in the Kamchatka region were studied. Regional parameters of radiation and propagation of seismic waves were estimated by comparing simulations of earthquake records with data recorded by stations of the Kamchatka Strong Motion Network. Acceleration time histories of strong earthquakes (M _w = 6.8–7.5, depths 45–55 km) that occurred near the eastern coast of Kamchatka in 1992–1993 were simulated at rock and soil stations located at epicentral distances of 67–195 km. In these calculations, the source spectra and the estimates of frequency-dependent attenuation and geometrical spreading obtained earlier for Kamchatka were used. The local seismic-wave amplification was estimated based on shallow geophysical site investigations and deep crustal seismic explorations, and parameters defining the shapes of the waveforms, the duration, etc. were selected, showing the best-fit to the observations. The estimated parameters of radiation and propagation of seismic waves describe all the studied earthquakes well. Based on the waveforms of the acceleration time histories, models of slip distribution over the fault planes were constructed for the studied earthquakes. Station PET can be considered as a reference rock station having the minimum site effects. The intensity of ground motion at the other studied stations was higher than at PET due to the soil response or other effects, primarily topographic ones. At soil stations INS, AER, and DCH the parameters of soil profiles (homogeneous pyroclastic deposits) were estimated, and nonlinear models of their behavior in the strong motion were constructed. The obtained parameters of radiation and propagation of seismic waves and models of soil behavior can be used for forecasting ground motion in future strong earthquakes in Kamchatka.     

Ground response analysis of Kanpur soil along Indo-Gangetic Plains

The present work deals with 1D and 2D ground response analysis and liquefaction analysis of alluvial soil deposits from Kanpur region along Indo-Gangetic plains. Standard penetration tests and seismic down hole tests have been conducted at four locations namely IITK, Nankari village, Mandhana and Bithoor at 1.5 m interval up to a depth of 30 m below the ground surface to find the variation of penetration blows and the shear wave velocity along the depth. From the selected sites undisturbed as well as representative soil samples have been collected for detailed soil classification. The soil profiles from four sites have been considered for 1D and 2D ground response analysis by applying the free field motions of three Himalayan earthquakes namely Chamba earthquake (M_w—5.1), Chamoli earthquake (M_w—6.4) and Uttarkashi earthquake (M_w—6.5). An average value of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) obtained from 1D and 2D analysis is considered for liquefaction analysis and post-liquefaction settlement. The excess pore water pressure ratio is greater than 0.8 at a depth of 24 m from ground surface for IITK, Nankari village, Bithoor sites. More than 50% of post liquefaction settlement is contributed by layers from 21–30 m for all sites. In general, the soil deposits in Kanpur region have silty sand and sand deposits and are prone to liquefaction hazards due to drastic decrease of cyclic resistance ratio (CRR) at four chosen sites in Kanpur.     

Radiated Energy of Great Earthquakes from Teleseismic Empirical Green’s Function Deconvolution

We expand on the empirical Green’s function deconvolution method of Ide et al. (2011) to estimate radiated energy for the six largest earthquakes worldwide over the last 10 years: 2011 M _w 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, 2004 M _w 9.1 Sumatra, 2010 M _w 8.8 Maule, 2005 M _w 8.7 Nias, 2007 M _w 8.5 Bengkulu, and 2012 M _w 8.6 off-Sumatra. Deconvolution of P, SV and SH components gives consistent energy results that are comparable to estimates found independently by other researchers. Apparent stress for the five great thrust earthquakes is between 0.4 and 0.8 MPa, while the 2012 off-Sumatra strike-slip earthquake has a higher apparent stress of 3 MPa, which is consistent with other studies that find a tendency for strike-slip events to be more energetic. Our results are within the spread of apparent stress from the wider global earthquake population over a large magnitude range. The azimuthal distribution of energy in each case shows signs of directivity, and in some cases, shows less energy radiated in the trench-ward direction, which may suggest enhanced tsunami potential. We find that eGfs as small as ~M 6.5 can be used for teleseismic deconvolution, and that an eGf-mainshock magnitude difference of 1.5 units yields stable results. This implies that M 8 is the minimum mainshock size for which teleseismic eGf deconvolution will work well. We propose that a database of eGf events could be used to calculate radiated energy and apparent stress of great, hazardous events in near real time, i.e., promptly enough that it could contribute to rapid response measures.