Recent Advances in Prediction and Processing of Strong Ground Motions

We present an overview of our recent results on utilizing small earthquakes in the earthquake engineering practice. Site-specific ground motion time-histories of large earthquakes can be successfully simulated using recordings of small earthquakes which are often referred to as 'empirical Green's functions' in seismology. Another important practical problem is whether and how these observations can be used in seismic risk studies which are based on empirical attenuation relations for ground motion parameters. We study a possibility of extrapolating attenuation relations for small earthquakes, to larger magnitudes using the data from the Garner Valley downhole array in Southern California. Finally we introduce efficient ground motion processing techniques in frequency- and time-domains and apply them to site response estimation.     

Attenuation differences in layer 2A in intermediate- and slow-spreading oceanic crust

In situ seismic attenuationQ⁻¹logs are derived from borehole velocity profiles and reveal sharp boundaries between morphologies of the extrusive volcanic layers in intermediate- and slow-spreading oceanic crust.Q⁻¹logs are calculated from the scattering attenuation associated with vertical velocity heterogeneity in Ocean Drilling Program Holes 504B and 896A and in Hole 395A, located in 5.9–7.3 Ma crust on the Pacific and Atlantic plates, respectively. Our results strongly tie crustal properties to seismic measurables and observed geological structures: we find that the scattering attenuation can be used to identify the extrusive volcanic sequence because it is closely related to changes in the degree of vertical heterogeneity. We interpret a distinct decrease in the Q⁻¹log at the transition below the extrusive volcanic layer to correspond with the seismic layer 2A/2B boundary. The boundary is located at 465 m depth below the sea floor in both Hole 395A and 504B, although this is likely to be a coincidence of the sediment thickness at these sites. Layer 2A is estimated to be approximately 150 m thick in Hole 504B and > 300 m thick in Hole 395A. Cyclic sequences of high-porosity pillows and low-porosity massive units in the uppermost 100 m of volcanics in Hole 395A result in large velocity heterogeneities which cause > 5 times more attenuation in this layer than in Hole 504B. In Hole 896A, by contrast, fewer pillows, more massive flows, and a greater volume of carbonate veins decrease the velocity heterogeneity and attenuation significantly over only 1 km distance from Hole 504B. We conclude that the attenuation in the extrusive volcanics of the ocean crust is largely controlled by variation in local heterogeneity and morphology as well as by subsequent hydrothermal alteration. The observed differences inQ⁻¹profiles and layer 2A thickness at these sites may be attributed to variations in the volume and duration of volcanic activity at mid-ocean spreading centers for these Pacific and Atlantic ridge segments.     

水库诱发地震的地震动特征

利用新丰江、美国奥洛维尔和蒙蒂赛洛水库地震极近场地面运动资料，研究了水库诱发地震的地震动峰值加速度衰减。结果表明，水库地震的峰值加速度高，衰减快。利用国内水库地震资料研究了水库地震烈度。水库地震烈度与同级天然地震烈度相比，一般是烈度高，衰减慢。水库地震的地震动反应谱频率高，地震动持续时间短     

2003年5月4日新疆伽师-岳普湖5.8级地震烈度分布及建筑物结构破坏特点

新疆伽师-岳普湖5．8级地震宏观震中位于岳普湖县的铁热木乡和兵团农三师42团的北面，震中烈度为Ⅶ度。本次地震影响范围位于巴楚-伽师6．8级地震Ⅵ-Ⅶ度影响区域内，累计破坏效应造成了较为严重的房屋破坏。通过对大量震害资料和强震记录的分析，根据建筑物的破坏情况和场地峰值加速度衰减特征，在尽可能排除累计破坏效应的基础上确定了地震烈度分布，分析了不同烈度区中的建筑物结构破坏特点及其与地震动影响场的关系。     

Study on the correlativity of earthquakes impact on cities

Introduction With rapid development and advancement of economy and society, lots of city groups or city belts with ex-tra-large cities as their centers have been formed in China. The regions these city groups lie in usually have well-developed economy, dense population, and are regional politics and culture centers. Some groups lie in the regions with high level of earthquake activity, such as the Surrounding Capital City Group with the centers of Bei-jing and Tianjin. Once a large earthqua…     

EFFECTS OF THREE KINDS OF PHYSICAL PROCESSES ON TYPHOON INTENSITY*

This paper designs three quasi-geostrophic barotropic models with a radial/horizontal grid length being 2 kin,one in the polar coordinates,one on a stationary typhoon circulation condition and another on a non-stationary typhoon circulation condition in the Cartesian coordinates,to investigate the effects of azimuthal and radial linear advections,and nonlinear advection on the inward propagation of mesoscale vorticity and the changes of typhoon intensity.Results show that the azimuthal linear advection may result in the formation of spiral vorticity bands;the radial linear advection in a certain parameter set is able to transfer vorticity inwards,leading to a slight enhancement of typhoon;the nonlinear advection of perturbation vorticity on a stationary typhoon circulation condition may transfer more vorticities inwards,thus resulting in a distinct enhancement of typhoon;and the nonlinear advection on a non-stationary typhoon circulation condition possesses duality,i.e.on the one hand,the advection increases the vorticity of inward propagation,thus favorable to the intensification of typhoon,and on the other hand,in the inward propagation process of vorticity the originally concentric and axisymmetric structure of typhoon basic flow is damaged,and a complex flow pattern forms,which in turn tends to weaken the circulation of typhoon.At last the paper discusses the possible applications of those results in typhoon intensity prediction.     

城市地震影响特征研究

首先根据历史地震目录，计算了我国34个省会城市所受到的历史地震影响. 这些城市的地震影响烈度分布特征表明，约53%的省会城市没有遭受过Ⅵ度以上的历史地震影响，遭受过Ⅶ~Ⅸ度影响的城市有44%；大部分城市Ⅵ度地震影响的发生频次均高于Ⅵ度以上地震影响；不同城市最大发生频次的地震影响烈度也不同. 为此，在确定城市地震防御烈度时，需综合考虑最大影响烈度和最频影响烈度. 本文还考虑到历史地震记录的不完备性，以福建省69个县级以上城市为研究对象，采用模拟地震目录的方法来研究城市地震影响的特征. 结果表明，不同超越概率水平下城市地震影响烈度在不同城市之间表现出较大变化，以50年超越概率2%作为城市特征地震影响烈度，可以作为城市地震防御烈度确定的依据，并据此对城市未来地震影响进行合理的描述.      

Design Earthquakes in the U.K.

Three sites in the UK are taken, representative of low, medium and high hazard levels (by UK standards). For each site, the hazard value at 10⁻⁴ annual probability is computed using a generic seismic source model, and a variety of ground motion parameters: peak ground acceleration (PGA), spectral acceleration at 10 Hz and 1 Hz, and intensity. Disaggregation is used to determine the nature of the earthquakes most likely to generate these hazard values. It is found (as might be expected) that the populations are quite different according to which ground motion parameter is used. When PGA is used, the result is a rather flat magnitude distribution with a tendency to low magnitude events (\le 4.5 ML) which are probably not really hazardous. Hazard-consistent scenario earthquakes computed using intensity are found to be in the range 5.8–5.9 ML, which is more in accord with the type of earthquake that one expects to be a worst-case event in the UK. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the Incorporation of the Effect of Crustal Structure into Empirical Strong Ground Motion Estimation

This article has two purposes. Firstly, a validation exercise of the modal summation technique for the computation of synthetic strong-motion records is performed for two regions of Europe (Umbria-Marche and south Iceland), using a variety of region specific crustal structure models, by comparing the predicted ground motion amplitudes with observed motions. It is found that the rate of decay of ground motions is well predicted by the theoretical decay curves but that the absolute size of the ground motions is underpredicted by the synthetic time-histories. This is thought to be due to the presence of low-velocity surface layers that amplify the ground motions but are not included in the crustal structure models used to compute the synthetic time-histories. Secondly, a new distance metric based on the computed theoretical decay curves is introduced which should have the ability to model the complex decay of strong ground motions. The ability of this new distance metric to reduce the associated scatter in empirically derived equations for the estimation of strong ground motions is tested. It is found that it does not lead to a reduction in the scatter but this is thought to be due to the use of crustal structure models that are not accurate or detailed enough for the regions studied. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of crack movements observed in an alpine bedrock cliff

Crack widths and rock temperatures were monitored on an andestic bedrock cliff in the summit area of the Daisetsu Mountains, Hokkaido, northern Japan. Sequential data recorded the gradual widening of a crack to the point of critical crack extension, which resulted in catastrophic rock breakage. The data indicate that a combination of liquid water in?ltration into crack tip and subsequent freezing is the most signi?cant factor contributing to critical crack extension. The recorded sub‐critical crack movements involved a number of minor crack extensions and contractions, the timing of which correlates well with the magnitude of the reconstructed thermal stresses at the crack tip derived from thermal deformation of the plate‐shaped rock fragment. Larger crack extensions occurred when stress at the crack tip exceeded a threshold value, possibly re?ecting the control of rock fracture mechanics by which cracks are thought to propagate when the stress intensity factor at the crack tip exceeds the threshold values for stress corrosion cracking and the fracture toughness of the material. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.