New Insights into Long-Period (>1  s) Seismic Amplification Effects in Deep Sedimentary Basins: A Case of the Po Plain Basin of Northern Italy

Author(s):  
Claudia Mascandola ◽  
Simone Barani ◽  
Marco Massa ◽  
Dario Albarello

ABSTRACT This study investigates and quantifies the influence of the shallower deposits (down to few hundreds of meters) of the Po Plain sedimentary basin (northern Italy) on the long-period component (i.e., 1  s<T<3  s) of seismic ground motion, in which amplification effects due to the soft sediments above seismic bedrock were observed. A new seismostratigraphic model of the shallow deposits of the entire basin is provided with an unprecedented detail by taking advantage of recently acquired geophysical data. The seismostratigraphic model is used to simulate the ground motion amplification in the Po Plain by means of extensive 1D ground response analysis. Results are compared with seismic observations available at a number of sites equipped with borehole seismic stations, where earthquakes have been recorded both at the surface and at the seismic bedrock depth. Despite the general agreement with observations concerning the seismic resonance frequencies, our model may fail in capturing the amplitude of the actual seismic amplification of the basin in the long-period range. We observe that 3D basin effects related to surface waves generated at the edge of the basin may play a significant role in those zones where seismic hazard is controlled by distant sources. In these cases, 1D modeling leads to average underestimations of 30%, up to a maximum of 60%. The amplification functions need to be corrected for a basin-effects correction term, which in this case is provided by the ground-motion prediction equation of the study area. The corrected amplification functions agree with the empirical observations, overcoming the uneven distribution of the recording stations in strong-motion datasets. These results should be taken into account in future seismic microzonation studies in the Po Plain area, where the 1D approach is commonly adopted in ground response analyses, and in site-specific seismic hazard assessments aimed at the design of structures that are sensitive to the long-period component of seismic ground motion (e.g., long-span bridges and tall buildings).

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 857-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuo Fukuwa ◽  
◽  
Takashi Hirai ◽  
Jun Tobita ◽  
Kazumi Kurata ◽  
...  

Characteristics of long-period seismic ground motion and response of tall buildings are investigated in this paper to promote earthquake proof countermeasures considering the damage caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. 3D finite difference method and the reciprocal theorem are used to examine the effect of sedimentary basin structures on seismic wave amplification. Natural period and damping of tall buildings are evaluated by ambient vibration tests and earthquake response observation during construction or demolition of the buildings. The effects of dynamic soil-structure interaction on response amplification of tall buildings are confirmed applying wave propagation theory to a continuum building model. Finally, a newly built base-isolated building with an isolated rooftop laboratory is introduced for full-scale long-period shaking experiment by installing actuators and jacks. Experience of long-period shaking in the building is also available with virtual reality view of indoor damage, which is effective for promotion of seismic countermeasures such as fixing furniture and safe evacuation.


Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 503
Author(s):  
Lucia Nardone ◽  
Fabrizio Terenzio Gizzi ◽  
Rosalba Maresca

Cultural heritage represents our legacy with the past and our identity. However, to assure heritage can be passed on to future generations, it is required to put into the field knowledge as well as preventive and safeguard actions, especially for heritage located in seismic hazard-prone areas. With this in mind, the article deals with the analysis of ground response in the Avellino town (Campania, Southern Italy) and its correlation with the effects caused by the 23rd November 1980 Irpinia earthquake on the historical buildings. The aim is to get some clues about the earthquake damage cause-effect relationship. To estimate the ground motion response for Avellino, where strong-motion recordings are not available, we made use of the seismic hazard disaggregation. Then, we made extensive use of borehole data to build the lithological model so being able to assess the seismic ground response. Overall, results indicate that the complex subsoil layers influence the ground motion, particularly in the lowest period (0.1–0.5 s). The comparison with the observed damage of the selected historical buildings and the maximum acceleration expected indicates that the damage distribution cannot be explained by the surface geology effects alone.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Gallahue ◽  
Leah Salditch ◽  
Madeleine Lucas ◽  
James Neely ◽  
Susan Hough ◽  
...  

<div> <p>Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments forecast levels of earthquake shaking that should be exceeded with only a certain probability over a given period of time are important for earthquake hazard mitigation. These rely on assumptions about when and where earthquakes will occur, their size, and the resulting shaking as a function of distance as described by ground-motion models (GMMs) that cover broad geologic regions. Seismic hazard maps are used to develop building codes.</p> </div><div> <p>To explore the robustness of maps’ shaking forecasts, we consider how maps hindcast past shaking. We have compiled the California Historical Intensity Mapping Project (CHIMP) dataset of the maximum observed seismic intensity of shaking from the largest Californian earthquakes over the past 162 years. Previous comparisons between the maps for a constant V<sub>S30</sub> (shear-wave velcoity in the top 30 m of soil) of 760 m/s and CHIMP based on several metrics suggested that current maps overpredict shaking.</p> <p>The differences between the V<sub>S30</sub> at the CHIMP sites and the reference value of 760 m/s could amplify or deamplify the ground motions relative to the mapped values. We evaluate whether the V<sub>S30 </sub>at the CHIMP sites could cause a possible bias in the models. By comparison with the intensity data in CHIMP, we find that using site-specific V<sub>S30</sub> does not improve map performance, because the site corrections cause only minor differences from the original 2018 USGS hazard maps at the short periods (high frequencies) relevant to peak ground acceleration and hence MMI. The minimal differences reflect the fact that the nonlinear deamplification due to increased soil damping largely offsets the linear amplification due to low V<sub>S30</sub>. The net effects will be larger for longer periods relevant to tall buildings, where net amplification occurs. </p> <div> <p>Possible reasons for this discrepancy include limitations of the dataset, a bias in the hazard models, an over-estimation of the aleatory variability of the ground motion or that seismicity throughout the historical period has been lower than the long-term average, perhaps by chance due to the variability of earthquake recurrence. Resolving this discrepancy, which is also observed in Italy and Japan, could improve the performance of seismic hazard maps and thus earthquake safety for California and, by extension, worldwide. We also explore whether new nonergodic GMMs, with reduced aleatory variability, perform better than presently used ergodic GMMs compared to historical data.</p> </div> </div>


2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 1812-1828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nenad Bijelić ◽  
Ting Lin ◽  
Gregory G. Deierlein

Abstract Limited data on strong earthquakes and their effect on structures pose challenges of making reliable risk assessments of tall buildings. For instance, although the collapse safety of tall buildings is likely controlled by large‐magnitude earthquakes with long durations and high low‐frequency content, there are few available recorded ground motions to evaluate these issues. The influence of geologic basins on amplifying ground‐motion effects raises additional questions. Absent recorded motions from past large magnitude earthquakes, physics‐based ground‐motion simulations provide a viable alternative. This article examines collapse risk and drift demands of a 20‐story archetype tall building using ground motions at four sites in the Los Angeles (LA) basin. Seismic demands of the building are calculated form nonlinear structural analyses using large datasets (∼500,000 ground motions per site) of unscaled, site‐specific simulated seismograms. Seismic hazard and building performance from direct analysis of Southern California Earthquake Center CyberShake motions are contrasted with values obtained based on conventional approaches that rely on recorded motions coupled with probabilistic seismic hazard assessments. At the LA downtown site, the two approaches yield similar estimates of mean annual frequency of collapse (λc), whereas nonlinear drift demands estimated with direct analysis are slightly larger primarily because of differences in hazard curves. Conversely, at the deep basin site, the CyberShake‐based analysis yields around seven times larger λc than the conventional approach, and both hazard and spectral shapes of the motions drive the differences. Deaggregation of collapse risk is used to identify the relative contributions of causal earthquakes, linking building responses with specific seismograms and contrasting collapse risk with hazard. A strong discriminative power of average spectral acceleration and significant duration for predicting collapse is observed.


Author(s):  
A. Boominathan ◽  
S. Krishna Kumar

Design ground motions are usually developed by one of the two approaches: site-specific analyses or from provisions of building codes. Although contemporary codes do consider approximately the site effects, they provide more conservative estimates. Hence it is preferred to carry out site specific analysis which involves both the seismic hazard analysis and ground response analysis. This article presents a site specific analysis for a seismically vulnerable site near Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The seismic hazard analysis was carried out by DSHA approach considering seismicity and seismotectonics within 250km radius. The site is predominantly characterized by deep stiff sandy clay deposits. Extensive shear wave velocity measurement by cross hole test is used for site classification and ground response analysis. The ground response analysis was carried out by equivalent linear approach using SHAKE2000. It is found that the deep stiff soil site considered is found to amplify the ground motion. The site specific response spectra obtained from RRS analysis is compared with the codal provision which reveals high spectral acceleration in site specific spectra for mid period range.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 1038-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasser A Marafi ◽  
Andrew J Makdisi ◽  
Jeffrey W Berman ◽  
Marc O Eberhard

Studies of recorded ground motions and simulations have shown that deep sedimentary basins can greatly increase the damage expected during earthquakes. Unlike past earthquake design provisions, future ones are likely to consider basin effects, but the consequences of accounting for these effects are uncertain. This article quantifies the impacts of basin amplification on the collapse risk of 4- to 24-story reinforced concrete wall building archetypes in the uncoupled direction. These buildings were designed for the seismic hazard level in Seattle according to the ASCE 7-16 design provisions, which neglect basin effects. For ground motion map frameworks that do consider basin effects (2018 USGS National Seismic Hazard Model), the average collapse risk for these structures would be 2.1% in 50 years, which exceeds the target value of 1%. It is shown that this 1% target could be achieved by: (1) increasing the design forces by 25%, (2) decreasing the drift limits from 2.0% to 1.25%, or (3) increasing the median drift capacity of the gravity systems to exceed 9%. The implications for these design changes are quantified in terms of the cross-sectional area of the walls, longitudinal reinforcement, and usable floor space. It is also shown that the collapse risk increases to 2.8% when the results of physics-based ground motion simulations are used for the large-magnitude Cascadia subduction interface earthquake contribution to the hazard. In this case, it is necessary to combine large changes in the drift capacities, design forces, and/or drift limits to meet the collapse risk target.


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