New Approach for Estimation of Static and Seismic Active Earth Pressure

To estimate static and seismic active earth pressure (P_ad) on a rigid retaining wall, numerical analyses using different step sizes have been carried out in this paper, based on the modified Culmann line method by considering Coulomb’s planar rupture surface. Equivalent pseudo-static seismic forces are considered in the analysis. A new concept of modified unit weight by considering ground surcharge is introduced under static and seismic conditions. By numerical analysis, area of soil (A) has been estimated to obtain the ratio of A/A₀ where A₀ is θh², θ is the angle between retaining structure and ground surface and h is the vertical height of the wall. This ratio remains constant for a particular type of soil and has been used to estimate the maximum active earth pressure using force diagram. Results are provided in tabular form for easy calculation of the coefficient of static and seismic active earth pressure. Present results by considering the new technique, compares well with the results obtained by earlier researchers.     

The Geography of Certified Trade‐Induced Manufacturing Job Loss in New England*

The article analyzes patterns in the distribution of manufacturing job losses that have been certified as trade‐induced by the U.S. Department of Labor. Spatial patterns in the likelihood of job loss are examined in the United States for the period from 1994 to 2002, with particular emphasis on county‐level patterns in New England. The findings demonstrate that the pattern of losses was correlated with measures of economic vitality and competitiveness including per capita income, educational attainment, occupational structure, and inventiveness. These results suggest that trade‐induced deindustrialization is borne most heavily by places ill‐equipped to compete in a more open, integrated international economy.     

Centrifuge modelling-based verification of response spectra design methods for some vulnerable structures

Residential RC framed structures suffered heavily during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat, India. These types of structures also saw severe damage in other earthquakes such as the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake in Turkey and 921 Ji-Ji earthquake in Taiwan. In this paper the seismic response of residential structures was investigated using physical modelling. Idealised soft storey and top heavy, two degrees of freedom (2DOF) portal frame structures were developed and tested on saturated and dry sand models at 25 g using the Schofield Centre 10-m Beam Centrifuge. It was possible to recreate observed field behaviour using these models. As observed in many of the recent earthquakes, soft storey structures were found to be particularly vulnerable to seismic loads. Elastic response spectra methods are often used in the design of simple portal frame structures. The seismic risk of these structures can be significantly increased due to modifications such as removal of a column or addition of heavy water tanks on the roof. The experimental data from the dynamic centrifuge tests on such soft storey or top-heavy models was used to evaluate the predictions obtained from the response spectra. Response spectra were able to predict seismic response during small to moderate intensity earthquakes, but became inaccurate during strong earthquakes and when soil structure interaction effects became important. Re-evaluation of seismic risk of such modified structures is required and time domain analyses suggested by building codes such as IBC, UBC or NEHRP may be more appropriate.     

Interpretation of seismic and potential field data from western New York State and Lake Ontario

Lithoprobe and industry seismic profiles have furnished evidence of major zones of easterly dipping Grenville deformed crust extending southwest from exposed Grenville rocks north of Lake Ontario. Additional constraints on subsurface structure limited to the postulated Clarendon–Linden fault system south of Lake Ontario are provided by five east–west reflection lines recorded in 1976. Spatial correlations between seismic structure and magnetic anomalies are described from both Lake Ontario and the newly reprocessed New York lines.In the Paleozoic to Precambrian upper crust, the New York seismic sections show: (1) An easterly thickening wedge of subhorizontal Paleozoic strata unconformably overlying a Precambrian basement whose surface has an apparent regional easterly dip of 1–2°. Minor apparent normal offsets, possibly on the order of tens of meters, occur within the Paleozoic section. The generally poorly reflective unconformity may be locally characterized by topographic relief on the order of 100 m; (2) Apparent local displacement on the order of 90 m at the level of the Black River Group diminishes upward to little or no apparent offset of Queenston Shale; (3) Within the limited seismic sections, there appears to be no evidence that the complete upper crustal section is vertically or subvertically offset; (4) Dipping structure in the Paleozoic strata (15° to 35°) resembles some underlying Precambrian basement elements; (5) The surface continuity of inferred faults constituting the Clarendon–Linden system is not strongly supported by the seismic data.Beneath the Paleozoic strata, the seismic sections show both linear and arcuate reflector geometry with easterly apparent dips of 15° to 35° similar to the deep structures imaged on seismic lines from nearby Lake Ontario and on Lithoprobe lines to the north. The similarity supports an extension of easterly dipping Central Metasedimentary Belt structures of the Grenville orogen from southern Ontario to beneath western New York State.From a comparison of the magnetic and gravity fields with the New York seismic sections, we suggest: (1) The largely nonmagnetic Paleozoic strata appear to contribute negligibly to magnetic anomalies. Seismically imaged fractures in the New York Paleozoic strata appear to lie mainly west of a positive gravity anomaly. The relationship between magnetic and gravity anomalies and the changes in the geometry of interpreted Precambrian structures remains enigmatic; (2) North to northeast trending curvilinear magnetic and gravity anomalies parallel, but are not restricted to the principal trend of the postulated Clarendon–Linden fault system. Paleozoic fractures of the Clarendon–Linden system may partly overlie a southward extension of the Composite Arc Belt boundary zone.     

用现今小震推断洪洞、临汾两次历史大震的震源断层

山西临汾地区是一个历史强震多发区，1303年和1695年发生了洪洞（M＝8）和临汾（M＝73／4）两次特大地震，这两次地震所在区域至今仍在持续不断的小地震活动，具有明显的大震区地震长期活动特征，我们对临汾无线传输地震台网记录的1987－1999年期间发生的1670次中，小地震重新进行了震源定位，根据对这些地震震源位置三维空间分布特征和震源机解制的分析，认为洪洞地震的震源断层应是长80km，埋深5－26km的NNE走向，高倾角的右旋走滑型断层，而临汾地震的震源断层是长70km，埋深5－22km的NWW走向，高倾角的左旋走滑型断层。这与洪洞，临汾两次大震极震区的等震线及该地区应力场的构造环境是吻合的。     

Moment-tensor statistics of the 1997 Long Valley microearthquake swarm

Abstract. A simple, fast, moment-tensor inversion method using bandpass-filtered P-amplitudes was used to study the moment-tensor statistics of Long Valley caldera microearthquakes. The events were recorded in the summer of 1997, during a swarm in the caldera. The swarm was associated with geodetic extension, uplift, and subsequent moderate earthquake activity. The moment tensor solutions for 1,993 events were calculated using the new method. The majority of the resulting focal mechanisms appear to be explained in terms of double couple mechanisms. Since some events did exhibit considerable deviation from double-couples, the moment data were studied for their statistical significance. The moments of the actual data were compared to the moments of synthetic data with varying degrees of random noise in their spectra. The results of this study suggested that unless data from more than 20 stations are used and the earthquake epicenter is located inside or very close to the network area, moment-tensor inversion does not correctly resolve the non-double-couple components of microearthquakes. Analysis of the inversion residuals shows that the average noise in the P-wave spectra was close to 20%. The fluctuations of the volumetric components of the moment-tensor are in good agreement with those of the synthetic pure double-couples with 20% of added noise. Thus the moment-tensor statistics suggests that little if any volume change is required to explain the observed seismic energy release in the swarm. However, the statistics do show that a significant compensated-linear-vector-dipole component maybe present in the bulk of the seismicity. Given the network used in this study, such a component could not be precisely resolved for individual earthquakes. This possibility deserves further investigation because of its bearing on the nature of fluid-fault-earthquake processes in swarms.     

Investigating Landslides Caused by Earthquakes – A Historical Review

Post-earthquake field investigations of landslide occurrence have provided a basis for understanding, evaluating, and mapping the hazard and risk associated withearthquake-induced landslides. This paper traces thehistorical development of knowledge derived from these investigations. Before 1783, historical accounts of the occurrence of landslides in earthquakes are typically so incomplete and vague that conclusions based on these accounts are of limited usefulness. For example, the number of landslides triggered by a given event is almost always greatly underestimated. The first formal, scientific post-earthquake investigation that included systematic documentation of the landslides was undertaken in the Calabria region of Italy after the 1783 earthquake swarm. From then until the mid-twentieth century, the best information on earthquake-induced landslides came from a succession ofpost-earthquake investigations largely carried out by formal commissions that undertook extensive ground-based field studies. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, when the use of aerial photography became widespread, comprehensive inventories of landslide occurrence have been made for several earthquakes in the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Italy, El Salvador, Japan, and Taiwan. Techniques have also been developed for performing ``retrospective' analyses years or decades after an earthquake that attempt to reconstruct the distribution of landslides triggered by the event. The additional use of Geographic Information System (GIS) processing and digital mapping since about 1989 has greatly facilitated the level of analysis that can applied to mapped distributions of landslides. Beginning in 1984, syntheses of worldwide and national data on earthquake-induced landslides have defined their general characteristics and relations between their occurrence and various geologic and seismic parameters. However, the number of comprehensive post-earthquake studies of landslides is still relatively small, and one of the most pressing needs in this area of research is for the complete documentation of landslides triggered by many more earthquakes in a wider variety of environments.