A study on amplification response of soil ground motion in Shanghai using strong motion records

3 Conclusions Applying the data recorded from the two minor earthquakes occurred at Zhangjiagang and Nantong, the response of the soft soil in Shanghai was developed. Both the data used here and obtained results are valuable since few of the earthquake data with high signal-to-noise ratio was recorded in China. Therefore, it has practical significance for the seismic zoning, the design and retrofit of the aseismic structures on the soft soil in China. It should also be noticed that the soil layers are nonlinear system especially when the earthquake wave with high amplitude propagating in the soft soil. Although some experts suggested that the soil amplification responses of the ground motion were essentially identical for the earthquake waves with either the higher amplitude or lower amplitude, it is still noticeable that the real soil ground motion response under a near-field strong earthquake may not be totally conformed to the above results. The further effort should be devoted to this problem. Anyway, the results achieved in this paper are of reference value to seismologists and engineers. Foundation item: Shanghai Planning Commission (No. 675).