Inversion of local S-wave velocity structures from average H/V ratios, and their use for the estimation of site-effects

H/V spectral ratios from microtremors areused to retrieve the S-velocity structurefrom a single ambient vibration record, byusing its relation to the ellipticity ofthe fundamental mode Rayleigh wave and theamplitude of observed H/V ratio.Constraints are needed in order to restrictthe possible range of solutions, and theinversion is applied to sites where thethickness of the unconsolidated sedimentsis approximately known from boreholeinformation. Within the uncertainty, theinverted structures agree well with theresults from other S-wave measuringtechniques such as downhole and cross-holemeasurements, and the analysis of ambientvibrations measured on an array.The influence of the inversion uncertaintyon site-amplification estimates forearthquakes is then investigated. For allinverted models, site response is computedfor a large number of events, which allowsto define the uncertainty by the aprioriunknown source position and mechanism of afuture earthquake. In most cases thevariability between the results obtainedfor the different models is much smallerthan the variability introduced by theunknown source position. The accuracy withwhich S-wave velocity structures can beretrieved from observed H/V ratios istherefore sufficient for an application ofthe method in seismic hazard analysis for aspecific site.