Local variability of the ground shaking during the 2009 L��Aquila earthquake (April 6, 2009��Mw 6.3): the case study of Onna and Monticchio villages

The 2009 Mw 6.3 L’Aquila event caused extensive damage in the city of L’Aquila and in some small towns in its vicinity. The most severe damage was recognized SE of L’Aquila town along the Aterno river valley. Although building vulnerability and near-source effects are strongly responsible for the high level of destruction, site effects have been invoked to explain the damage heterogeneities and the similarities between the 2009 macroseismic field with the intensities of historical earthquakes. The small village of Onna is settled on quaternary alluvium and suffered during the L’Aquila event an extremely heavy damage in the masonry structures with intensity IX–X on the Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg (MCS) scale. The village of Monticchio, far less than 1.3 km from Onna, is mostly situated on Mesozoic limestone and suffered a smaller level of damaging (VI MCS). In the present paper, we analyze the aftershock recordings at seismic stations deployed in a small area of the middle-Aterno valley including Onna and Monticchio. The aim is to investigate local amplification effects caused by the near-surface geology. Because the seismological stations are close together, vulnerability and near-source effects are assumed to be constant. The waveform analysis shows that the ground motion at Onna is systematically characterized by large high-frequency content. The frequency resonance is varying from 2 to 3 Hz and it is related to alluvial sediments with a thickness of about 40 m that overlay a stiffer Pleistocene substrate. The ground motion recordings of Onna are well reproduced by the predictive equation for the Italian territory.     

Computation of ground motion amplification in Kolkata megacity (India) using finite-difference method for seismic microzonation

This paper presents the ground motion amplification scenario along with fundamental frequency (F ₀) of sedimentary deposit for the seismic microzonation of Kolkata City, situated on the world’s largest delta island with very soft soil deposit. A 4th order accurate SH-wave viscoelastic finite-difference algorithm is used for computation of response of 1D model for each borehole location. Different maps, such as for F ₀, amplification at F ₀, average spectral amplification (ASA) in the different frequency bandwidth of earthquake engineering interest are developed for a variety of end-users communities. The obtained ASA of the order of 3–6 at most of the borehole locations in a frequency range of 0.25–10.0 Hz reveals that Kolkata City may suffer severe damage even during a moderate earthquake. Further, unexpected severe damage to collapse of multi-storey buildings may occur in localities near Hoogly River and Salt Lake area due to double resonance effects during distant large earthquakes.     

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.     

Study of site effects in the area of Nocera Umbra (Central Italy) during the 1997 Umbria-Marche seismic sequence

During the M_L = 5.6 and 5.8 earthquakes occurredin central Italy on 26 September 1997 the historiccentre of Nocera Umbra, lying on top of a 120 m highhill, was diffusely damaged (VII-VIII degrees of MCSintensity). Some recently built houses in the modernpart of the town suffered an even higher level ofdamage. A temporary seismic array was deployed toinvestigate a possible correlation between localamplifications of ground motion in this area and theobserved pattern of damage. After a geologic andmacroseismic survey, eight sites were selected asrepresentative of different local conditions, such astopographic irregularities, sharp hard-to-softlithology transitions, alluvium-filled valleys, andboth undisturbed and deformed rocks.Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios for bothmicrotremor and earthquake recordings, as well asspectral ratios referred to undisturbed rock sites,were used to quantify local variations of groundmotion. In spite of the diffuse damage in the historiccentre of Nocera Umbra, a small amplification isobserved at the stations on the hill's top. Thissuggests that the higher vulnerability of the ancientbuildings mainly accounts for the diffuse damage inthat part of the town. In the frequency band ofengineering interest (1 to 10 Hz) the largestamplifications of ground motion are found at softsites: in the Topino river valley, where many episodesof severe structural damage occurred, spectralamplification is significant over a broad frequencyband ranging from 2 Hz to more than 20 Hz. Inparticular, in the central part of the valley highamplification (> 4) is found from 3 to 10 Hz,reaching a maximum of 20 around 4 Hz. At the edge ofthe valley, close to the soil-to-rock transition,amplification is as large as 10 in a frequency bandranging from 4 to more than 20 Hz. A significantamplification (by a factor of 10 around 10 Hz) isobserved also at one of the rock sites, possibly dueto the presence of a cataclastic zone related to theactivity of a regional fault that altered themechanical properties of the rock.     

Variations of local seismic response in Benevento (Southern Italy) using earthquakes and ambient noise recordings

The city of Benevento (Southern Italy) has been repeatedly struck by large historical earthquakes. A heterogeneous geologic structure and widespread soft soil conditions make the estimation of site effects crucial for the seismic hazard assessment of the city. From 2000 until 2004, we installed seismic stations to collect earthquake data over zones with different geological conditions. Despite the high level of urban noise, we recorded more than 150 earthquakes at twelve sites. This data set yields the first, well documented experimental evidence for weak to moderate local amplifications. We investigated site effects primarily by the classical spectral ratio technique (CSR) using a rock station placed on the Benevento hill as reference. All sites in the Calore river valley and in the eastern part of the Benevento hill show a moderate high-frequency (f > 4 Hz) amplification peak. Conversely, sites in the Sabato river valley share weak-to-moderate amplification in a wide frequency band (from 1–2 to 7–10 Hz), without evident frequency peaks. Application of no-reference-site techniques to earthquake and noise data confirms the results of the CSRs in the sites of the Calore river valley and of the eastern part of the Benevento hill, but fails in providing indications for site effects in the Sabato river valley, being the H/V ratios nearly flat. One-dimensional modeling indicates that the ground motion amplification can be essentially explained in terms of a vertically varying geologic structure. High-frequency narrow peaks are caused by the strong impedance contrast existing between near-surface soft deposits and stiff cemented conglomerates. Conversely, broad-band amplifications in the Sabato river valley are likely due to a more complex layering with weak impedance contrasts both in the shallow and deep structure of the valley.     

随机方法在地震烈度速报中的应用

我国地震监测台网间距大,很难实现大震发生时地震烈度分布图的快速编制.基于随机方法,利用历史小震数据反演地震动估计模型的参数,参考地震发生时获取的少量强震动数据,选取合适的震源参数,正演地震动场的分布.根据地震烈度与地震动参数的经验关系,实现地震烈度速报.本方法可以模拟大震的近断层地震动特征,对高烈度区的判断较目前常用的烈度速报方法更为合理.研究成果既可以用于首张烈度分布图的发布,还能够用于地震烈度的动态修正.     

邢台地区长周期地震动特征初步分析

沉积平原中存在地表低速沉积层是长周期地震动产生的关键因素,而长周期地震动会对长周期建筑物造成严重威胁和震害。本文基于邢台地震的历史地震震源模型和含地表沉积层的地壳速度模型,采用离散波数有限元法,对邢台地区进行了长周期地震动的计算分析。研究表明,邢台平原地区在大震中会产生长周期地震波,邢台地震中反应谱峰值区域位于宁晋南,与极震区基本重合。震中距小于55km区域内的周期1.5—4s的放大系数谱超过了抗震设计规范谱,反应谱放大系数值在周期2s附近达到峰值。因此,邢台地区因存在地表软弱沉积层,该区抗震设防可能对长周期地震动估计不足,建议应予以特别考虑。     

强地震动估计和地震危险性评定

本文介绍了近几年获取的强震记录中显示出的地震动特征，诸如近断裂的破裂方向性效应、上盘效应、影响地震波传播的地壳波导效应、沉积盆地的放大效应和盆地边缘效应；归纳了强地震动估计的三种方法，简要综述了经验性衰减模型、预测强地震动的随机法和宽频带格林函数法；讨论了估计活断层引起的地震动所应把握的要点。     

Late resonant response at Texcoco, Valley of Mexico, during distant earthquakes

Recordings of the ground motion induced by two shallow (15–25 km deep), distant (300 and 605 km) earthquakes made on deep, soft lacustrine sediments at Texcoco, Valley of Mexico, show a late monochromatic response at 0.48 Hz. Data from a strong-motion recorder array show that this late response is consistent with slow (60 m/s group velocity) Rayleigh waves generated near the 6 km distant soft/stiff soil interface of the ex-lake surface margin. It is concluded that the excitation of local Rayleigh waves in soft soil deposits by arriving earthquake ground motion provides one mechanism to explain the prolonged duration of resonant motion on soft soils, and hence the extreme damage often associated with soft soils responding to distant earthquakes.     

Localised coherent response of the La Molina basin (Lima,Peru) to earthquakes,and future approaches suggested by Parkway basin (New Zealand) experience

Earthquake records from a 1984 temporary seismograph array set up in La Molina, Lima, Peru, are re-analysed. The array comprised eight three-component geophones; seven soil based and one rock based. Values of horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) for two small earthquakes peaked at around 1.3 Hz. In one distant earthquake, four of the seven soil-based stations showed a peak at 1.25 Hz in soil-to-rock spectral ratio (SSR), the same dominant frequency observed during an aftershock of a damaging earthquake. Because this frequency is not compatible with the shear wave velocity profile attributed to La Molina, and because the spectral peak is confined to a small ground area, it is concluded that the peak is caused by a localised deposit of soft soil. Because the area associated with the spectral peak includes the area of great damage in 1974, it is concluded that coherent monochromatic behaviour is responsible for the damage.     

A Numerical Study of Effects of Valley-Weathering and Valley-Shape-Ratio on the Ground Motion Characteristics

A study of combined effects of valley-weathering and valley-shaperatio on the ground motion characteristics and associated differential ground motion (DGM) is documented in this paper. In order to properly quantify the weathering effects, a forth-order-accurate staggered-grid viscoelastic time-domain finite-difference program has been used for the simulation of SH-wave responses. Simulated results revealed that the defocusing caused by valley is frequency-independent in contrast to the ridge-focusing. A decrease of average spectral amplification (ASA) with an increase of shape-ratio of the non-weathered triangular and elliptical valleys was obtained. Overall, the amplification and de-amplification pattern was larger in case of triangular valleys as compared to the elliptical valleys. It can be concluded that the dwelling within or near the topcorners of weathered valleys may suffer more damage as compared to their surroundings. A weathered triangular valley with large shape-ratio may cause unexpected damage very near its top-corners since both the ASA and DGM are largest.     

汶川M_S8.0地震河谷地形对汉源县城高烈度异常的影响

汉源县城位于汶川M_S8.0特大地震六度区内唯一的八度异常区,为典型且罕见的远震高烈度异常区.汉源县城处于流沙河的河流阶地之上,河谷地形对地震震害有显著的影响.为定量分析河谷地形对汶川大地震汉源县高烈度异常的影响,基于汉源县城震害科学考察和场地勘察获取的资料,根据震害分布特征和流沙河谷地形的特点,选取1条实测得到的横切汉源县城并垂直流沙河河谷方向的典型剖面作为计算模型,以脉冲作为基底输入,采用有限差分方法研究了该剖面的场地放大效应,分析了地形对高烈度异常的影响.计算结果表明:汉源县城场地对地震动放大效应的显著频段是1.0~10Hz,且这一频段老县城场地的放大效应比新县城场地显著;汉源老县城场地对汶川M_S8.0地震主震的地震动有显著的放大效应,地表峰值加速度大大超过了抗震设计规范的规定值;汉源场地地形放大效应显著频段与汶川M_S8.0地震的能量集中频段基本吻合,汉源老县城建筑物的自振频率恰恰位于该频段,产生共振效应,从而造成更显著的放大效应,这也是汉源震害异常的主要原因之一.由此可见,河谷地形对地表地震动有重要的影响,在工程选址和抗震设计时应考虑其影响.     

A seismological overview of long-period ground motion

Long-period ground motion has become an increasingly important consideration because of the recent rapid increase in the number of large-scale structures, such as high-rise buildings and oil storage tanks. Large subduction-zone earthquakes and moderate to large crustal earthquakes can generate far-source long-period ground motions in distant sedimentary basins with the help of path effects. Near-fault long-period ground motions are generated, for the most part, by the source effects of forward rupture directivity. Far-source long-period ground motions consist primarily of surface waves with longer durations than near-fault long-period ground motions. They were first recognized in the seismograms of the 1968 Tokachi-oki and 1966 Parkfield earthquakes, and their identification has been applied to the 1964 Niigata earthquake and earlier earthquakes. Even if there is no seismogram, we can identify far-source long-period ground motions through the investigation of tank damage by liquid sloshing.     

“5·12”汶川特大地震灾害特点及其防灾启示

本文介绍了"5·12"汶川特大地震发生的构造背景、震源与余震分布特点,认为该地震是青藏高原巴颜喀拉块体东向运动并与四川盆地相互长期作用的结果,地震主要能量释放在长330km、宽52km、深20km的块体(震源体)内,能量释放时间长达100多秒.地震在震源体内释放的能量极其不均匀,地面运动在震中区也具有强烈的时间、空间不均匀性.高烈度区沿震源体分布,烈度分布具有明显异常特征.地震造成的人员死亡90%以上位于烈度Ⅸ度以上地区.居民建筑、学校和医院等建筑物遭受严重破坏,交通、水利等生命线也遭受重大破坏.地震引发的崩塌、滑坡和泥石流灾害十分严重.巨大的地震灾害暴露出防震减灾管理、地震科学研究、防震减灾技术研发应用,以及防震减灾宣传等方面的严重不足. 震主要能量释放在长330kin、宽52kin、深20kin的块体(震源体)内,能量释放时间长达100多秒.地震在震源体内释放的能量极其不均匀,地面运动在震中区也具有强烈的时间、空间不均匀性.高烈度区沿震源体分布,烈度分布具有明显异常特征.地震造成的人员死亡90%以上位于烈度Ⅸ度以上地区.居民建筑、学校和医院等建筑物遭受严重破坏,交通、水利等生命线也遭受重大破坏.地震 发的崩塌、滑坡和泥石流灾害十分严重.巨大的地震灾害暴露出防震减灾管理、地震科学研究、防震减灾技术研发应用,以及防震减灾宣传等方面的严重不足. 震主要能量释放在长330kin、宽52kin、深20k     

A uniform approach to seismic site effect analysis in Bucharest, Romania

As a uniform approach to the assessment of ground motion variation within the Romanian capital Bucharest we analyze and compare strong motion records from analog recorders, weak motion data from a modern digital accelerometer network, and intensity observations of previous strong earthquakes. These different data sets allow to clearly characterize geographical trends in the distribution of ground shaking in the city for future earthquakes. Below 2 Hz the variability is small. Between 2 and 5 Hz, however, variations by a factor of 3–4 have to be expected. As the key source for the seismic hazard—the intermediate depth Vrancea earthquakes—remain at hypocentral distances in excess of 150 km from the city the ground motion variation must be predominantly attributed to site effects. This geometry of Vrancea sources to the site of Bucharest is ideal for the application of source-site separation techniques. However, despite this fact site effect amplification functions display a very large amount of aleatory uncertainty. In other words the standard source-site parameterization is too simple and we do not yet fully understand the cause and size of site effects.     

Time–frequency analysis of the 2012 double earthquakes records in North-West of Iran

On August 11, 2012, East-Azerbuijan province experienced moderate-size double earthquakes, approximately 60 km northeast of the city of Tabriz. The time–frequency characteristics of ground motion records during these events which caused widespread damage to the structures are investigated in detail. Wavelet transform were applied in this study as a powerful technique to detect the transient and non-stationary features associated in amplitude and frequency of ground motions. The top four PGA ground-motion records from the first and second events were used in the analysis. As a preliminary estimates, the energy contents of horizontal and vertical components of ground-motion records related to building damages were critically evaluated and discussed at different frequency level. Results of energy distribution on pseudo-period corresponding to each decomposition level show good consistency with the level of damage in the stricken area. The focus of this study on the causes of damage considering the energy content of ground motion records is helping to improve the engineering insight in design process of earthquake-resistant buildings.     

三维地形中地震动的频域特征——以芦山地区为例

地形条件对局部震害分布有重要影响。本文选择地形起伏剧烈的芦山地区,采用三维谱元法模拟地震波传播。研究了该地区地震动的频谱特征。计算了测线上位于山顶和山谷的台站傅里叶频谱,并研究了各自的谱值和谱值比特征。分析结果表明:山顶包含了较高的频谱;山谷包含了较低的频谱;山顶上的频谱值高于山谷的频谱值;并且地形对水平分量的影响更大。同时,进一步从频谱中提取了峰值放大比和峰值频率2个参数,分析了其在芦山地形中的分布特征。结果显示,山顶对应了较大的峰值放大比和峰值频率,而山谷则对应了较低的峰值放大比和峰值频率。     

Site effects of the 2002 Molise earthquake, Italy: analysis of strong motion, ambient noise, and synthetic data from 2D modelling in San Giuliano di Puglia

On 31 October and 1 November 2002, the Basso Molise area (Southern Italy) was struck by two earthquakes of moderate magnitude (M _L = 5.4 and 5.3). The epicentral area showed a high level of damage, attributable both to the high vulnerability of existing buildings and to site effects caused by the geological and geomorphological settings. Specifically, the intensity inside the town of San Giuliano di Puglia was two degrees higher than in neighbouring towns. Also, within San Giuliano di Puglia, the damage varied notably. The site response in the city was initially evaluated from horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) from a limited number of strong motion recordings of the most severe aftershocks. Several microtremor measurements were also available. Both data sets indicated the simultaneous presence of two amplification peaks: one around 6 Hz, attributed in previous studies to the strong, shallow impedance contrast among landfill/clay and calcarenites, and one at 2 Hz related to the first S-wave arrivals and predominantly seen only on one receiver component. Further studies performed on weak-motion recordings also showed strong amplification on the vertical receiver component, thus indicating an underestimation of the amplification by the HVSR technique. Additionally, a 2D-model of the geology of the sub-surface was developed, reproducing the flower-shaped structure generated during the late orogenic transpressive regime. The numerical (finite-difference hybrid) simulation reproduced the two peaks of the observed data at slightly higher frequencies. The model also confirmed that the borders of the flower structure define a boundary between amplification levels, with higher amplification inside.     

A study of local amplification effect of soil layers on ground motion in the Kathmandu Valley using microtremor analysis

Past researchers have anticipated the occurrence of a great earthquake in the central Himalayas in the near future.This may cause serious damage in the Kathmandu Valley,which sits on an ancient lake be...     

Site effect and damage distribution in Pujili (Ecuador) after the 28 March 1996 earthquake

The 28 March 1996 earthquake (Mw=5.7) produced extensive damage in Pujili, a small town located in the central part of the Inter-Andean valley of Ecuador. Variations in the damage rate of adobe constructions throughout the city let us suppose a ground motion amplification related to site effects. A site effect study using the H/V spectral ratio confirmed the good agreement with geological formations and showed that a second peak in some soil response appears at sites that are located over a zone of alluvial deposits, in the most damaged area of the city. This second peak is in the frequency range 5–7 Hz, close to the natural response of adobe building frequency. Thus, the second peak seems to increase the damage rate of adobe buildings and may be related to superficial alluvial deposits of a river, acting independently of the rest of the soil column.