Stress estimates for the San Fernando, California, earthquake of February 9, 1971: Main event and thirteen aftershocks

1972 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Trifunac

Abstract The strong earthquake ground motion recorded in the center of and above the fault plane is combined with field evidence of faulting and instrumental studies of aftershocks to deduce stresses during and after the San Fernando earthquake of February 9, 1971. Stress computations based on Brune's near-field, shear-wave spectra, peak velocity of ground motion, energy calculated from the strong-motion record, and a model of circular dislocation give mutually consistent stress estimates, which suggest that the effective stress operating during the earthquake was approximately 100 bars, while during the earthquake it dropped several tens of bars. The energy of the main event is estimated to be 1022 dyne cm. Thirteen aftershocks, recorded during the first 6 min, were associated with stress drops ranging from 10 to 500 bars, these events clustering along the north-eastern end of the dislocation surface. The strong-motion accelerograms provide invaluable data for detailed investigations of the pattern of earthquake energy release during and immediately after an earthquake. Used for the first time in this study, strong-motion accelerograms gave an excellent picture of stress history and migration of seismic activity during the first 6 min.

1982 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1717-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Bouchon ◽  
Keiiti Aki

abstract In the absence of near-field records of differential ground motion induced by earthquakes, we simulate the time histories of strain, tilt, and rotation in the vicinity of earthquake faults embedded in layered media. We consider the case of both strike-slip and dip-slip fault models and study the effect of different crustal structures. The maximum rotational motion produced by a buried 30-km-long strike-slip fault with slip of 1 m is of the order of 3 × 10−4 rad while the corresponding rotational velocity is about 1.5 × 10−3 rad/sec. A simulation of the San Fernando earthquake yields maximum longitudinal strain and tilt a few kilometers from the fault of the order of 8 × 10−4 and 7 × 10−4 rad. These values being small compared to the amplitude of ground displacement, the results suggest that most of the damage occurring in earthquakes is caused by translation motions. We also show that strain and tilt are closely related to ground velocity and that the phase velocities associated with strong ground motions are controlled by the rupture velocity and the basement rock shearwave velocity.


1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ghobarah ◽  
T. Baumber

During recent earthquakes, the documented cases of collapsed unreinforced brick masonry industrial chimneys are numerous. Observed modes of structural failure are either total collapse or sometimes collapse or damage of the top third of the structure. The objective of this study is to analyze and explain the modes of observed failure of masonry chimneys during earthquake events, and to evaluate two retrofit systems for existing chimneys in areas of high seismicity. The behaviour of the masonry chimney, when subjected to earthquake ground motion, was modelled using a lumped mass system. Several actual strong motion records were used as input to the model. The shear, moment, and displacement responses to the earthquake ground motion were evaluated for various chimney configurations. It was found that the failure of the chimney at its base is the result of the fundamental mode of vibration. Failure at the top third of the structure due to the higher modes of vibration is possible when the chimney is subjected to high frequency content earthquakes. Higher modes, which are normally not of concern under wind loading, were shown to be critical in seismic design. Post-tensioning and the reinforcing steel cage were found to be effective retrofit systems. Key words: masonry, chimneys, behaviour, analysis, design, retrofit, dynamic, earthquakes, seismic response.


2019 ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
V. V. Afanasev

The results of the analysis of geospatial and geological information on the structure and dynamics of the lagoon coast of the North-Eastern Sakhalin are presented. On the basis of a number of parameters of the coastal erosion-accumulation processes and migration of lagoon straits during the period 1927–2014. the morpholithodynamics system of the North-Eastern Sakhalin was considered. The volume of sediments transported during the migration of the straits, was estimated with the help of three-dimensional models, in which, parallel with time-averaged areas of erosion and accumulation, additional data were used, namely: bathymetry of the straits and adjacent water area, characteristics of the relief of the barrier forms and geological information obtained as a result of georadar survey and drilling. Georadar data, together with remote sensing data, have made it possible to create a model of sedimentation, which formed the basis for the analysis of the history of the coast formation beyond the period of observations. Currently, we can trace the situation as long as to the middle of the XIXth century.


1972 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Blume

abstract Reliable measurements and detailed analyses of the responses of many buildings to ground motion resulting from underground nuclear explosions are providing new and valuable information on the structural-dynamic properties and behavior of real buildings. Much, if not all, of this knowledge is applicable to the problem of resisting natural earthquake ground motion, and it is being obtained as a byproduct of the AEC underground explosive nuclear safety program which is concerned with developing techniques for making reliable predictions of response and any damage. Information is provided on oscillator spectral response values, building responses, modal contributions and combinations versus elapsed time and at times of maximum response, variations in natural periods, foundation material interaction, and biaxial motion in the horizontal plane. Data are shown for nuclear events JORUM and HANDLEY and then compared to those of prior major events. In addition, peak responses of certain Las Vegas buildings to the distant February 1971 San Fernando earthquake (U.S. Geological Survey, 1971) are provided and compared to responses to nuclear events.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3370-3380
Author(s):  
Monica D. Kohler ◽  
Filippos Filippitzis ◽  
Thomas Heaton ◽  
Robert W. Clayton ◽  
Richard Guy ◽  
...  

Abstract The populace of Los Angeles, California, was startled by shaking from the M 7.1 earthquake that struck the city of Ridgecrest located 200 km to the north on 6 July 2019. Although the earthquake did not cause damage in Los Angeles, the experience in high-rise buildings was frightening in contrast to the shaking felt in short buildings. Observations from 560 ground-level accelerometers reveal large variations in shaking in the Los Angeles basin that occurred for more than 2 min. The observations come from the spatially dense Community Seismic Network (CSN), combined with the sparser Southern California Seismic Network and California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program networks. Site amplification factors for periods of 1, 3, 6, and 8 s are computed as the ratio of each station’s response spectral values combined for the two horizontal directions, relative to the average of three bedrock sites. Spatially coherent behavior in site amplification emerges for periods ≥3  s, and the maximum calculated site amplifications are the largest, by factors of 7, 10, and 8, respectively, for 3, 6, and 8 s periods. The dense CSN observations show that the long-period amplification is clearly, but only partially, correlated with the depth to basement. Sites with the largest amplifications for the long periods (≥3  s) are not close to the deepest portion of the basin. At 6 and 8 s periods, the maximum amplifications occur in the western part of the Los Angeles basin and in the south-central San Fernando Valley sedimentary basin. The observations suggest that the excitation of a hypothetical high-rise located in an area characterized by the largest site amplifications could be four times larger than in a downtown Los Angeles location.


2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Mianshui Rong ◽  
Xiaojun Li ◽  
Lei Fu

SUMMARY Given the improvements that have been made in the forward calculations of seismic noise horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (NHVSRs) or earthquake ground motion HVSRs (EHVSRs), a number of HVSR inversion methods have been proposed to identify underground velocity structures. Compared with the studies on NHVSR inversion, the research on the EHVSR-based inversion methods is relatively rare. In this paper, to make full use of the widely available and constantly accumulating strong-motion observation data, we propose an S-wave HVSR inversion method based on diffuse-field approximation. Herein, the S-wave components of earthquake ground motion recordings are considered as data source. Improvements to the objective function has been achieved in this work. An objective function with the slope term is introduced. The new objective function can mitigate the multisolution phenomenon encountered when working with HVSR curves with multipeaks. Then, a synthetic case is used to show the verification of the proposed method and this method has been applied to invert underground velocity structures for six KiK-net stations based on earthquake observations. The results show that the proposed S-wave EHVSR inversion method is effective for identifying underground velocity structures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-451
Author(s):  
Editorial Office

This book is a work for general readers, straight-forwardly treating the theme of "strong earthquake ground motion" directly causing disaster and explaining how to cope. Eartquake ground motion is generally said to cause earthquake disasters and the degree of ground motion is determined both by the magnitude of the earthquake and the distance from its epicenter. In reality, however, things are not so simple. In the 2003 Tokachi Offshore Earthquake, for example, shaking at a relatively long 10-second period resonated at the characteristic frequency of oil tanks, triggering sloshing and causing large fires. In the 1995 Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake (the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster), for another example, a long narrow belt of disaster confirmed where damage to collapsed building was especially significant because only ground within this belt quaked more intensely than elsewhere.


1978 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Langston

abstract Teleseismic P, SV, and SH waves recorded by the WWSS and Canadian networks from the 1971 San Fernando, California earthquake (ML = 6.6) are modeled in the time domain to determine detailed features of the source as a prelude to studying the near and local field strong-motion observations. Synthetic seismograms are computed from the model of a propagating finite dislocation line source embedded in layered elastic media. The effects of source geometry and directivity are shown to be important features of the long-period observations. The most dramatic feature of the model is the requirement that the fault, which initially ruptured at a depth of 13 km as determined from pP-P times, continuously propagated toward the free surface, first on a plane dipping 53°NE, then broke over to a 29°NE dipping fault segment. This effect is clearly shown in the azimuthal variation of both long period P- and SH-wave forms. Although attenuation and interference with radiation from the remainder of the fault are possible complications, comparison of long- and short-period P and short-period pP and P waves suggest that rupture was initially bilateral, or, possibly, strongly unilateral downward, propagating to about 15 km depth. The average rupture velocity of 1.8 km/sec is well constrained from the shape of the long-period wave forms. Total seismic moment is 0.86 × 1026 dyne-cm. Implications for near-field modeling are drawn from these results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 7658-7664
Author(s):  
T. Nagao

The considered parameters in seismic design vary, with the Earthquake Ground Motion (EGM) having the largest variation. Since source characteristic, path characteristic, and Site Amplification Factor (SAF) influence the EGM, it is crucial to appropriately consider their variations. Source characteristic variations are mainly considered in a seismic hazard analysis, which is commonly used to evaluate variations in EGM. However, it is also important to evaluate variations in path characteristic and SAF with only a few studies having individually and quantitatively examined the variations of these two characteristics. In this study, based on strong-motion observation records obtained from four sites in central Japan, the three characteristics were extracted from seismograms using the concept of spectral inversion. After removing the source characteristic, the path characteristic and SAF were separated, and the variations in these two characteristics were quantified. To separate and obtain each characteristic from the observed record, one constraint condition must be imposed, whereas the variations in the constraint condition must be ignored. In that case, the variations in the constraint condition are included in the variations of the separated characteristics. In this study, this problem was solved by evaluating the variation in the constraint condition, which is the SAF at a hard rock site, by the use of the vertical array observation record at the site.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document