Evaluation of Earthquake Response Spectra Directionality Using Stochastic Simulations

ABSTRACT For earthquake-resistant design purposes, ground-motion intensity is usually characterized using response spectra. The amplitude of response spectral ordinates of horizontal components varies significantly with changes in orientation. This change in intensity with orientation is commonly known as ground-motion directionality. Although this directionality has been attributed to several factors, such as topographic irregularities, near-fault effects, and local geologic heterogeneities, the mechanism behind this phenomenon is still not well understood. This work studies the directionality characteristics of earthquake ground-motion intensity using synthetic ground motions and compares their directionality to that of recorded ground motions. The two principal components of horizontal acceleration are sampled independently using a stochastic model based on finite-duration time-modulated filtered Gaussian white-noise processes. By using the same stochastic process to sample both horizontal components of motion, the variance of horizontal ground acceleration has negligible orientation dependence. However, these simulations’ response spectral ordinates present directionality levels comparable to those found in real ground motions. It is shown that the directionality of the simulated ground motions changes for each realization of the stochastic process and is a consequence of the duration being finite. Simulated ground motions also present similar directionality trends to recorded earthquake ground motions, such as the increase of average directionality with increasing period of vibration and decrease with increasing significant duration. These results suggest that most of the orientation dependence of horizontal response spectra is primarily explained by the finite significant duration of earthquake ground motion causing inherent randomness in response spectra, rather than by some physical mechanism causing polarization of shaking.

Ground motions variability in Israel from 3-D simulations of M 6 and M 7 earthquakes

In Israel, due to low seismicity rates and sparse seismic network, the temporal and spatial coverage of ground motion data is insufficient to estimate the variability of moderate-strong (M > 6) ground motions required to construct a local ground motion model (GMM). To fill this data gap and to study the ground motions variability of M > 6 events, we performed a series of 3-D numerical simulations of M 6 and M 7 earthquakes. Based on the results of the simulations, we developed a statistical attenuation model (AM) and studied the residuals between simulated and AM PGVs and the single station variability. We also compared the simulated ground motions with a global GMM in terms of peak ground velocity (PGV) and significant duration (Ds 595). Our results suggest that the AM was unable to fully capture the simulated ground motions variability, mainly due to the incorporation of super-shear rupture and effects of local sedimentary structures. We also show that an imported GMM considerably deviates from simulated ground motions. This work sets the basis for future development of a comprehensive GMM for Israel, accounting for local sources, path, and site effects.

Dynamic Rupture Study of Near-Field Velocity Pulses during the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, Japan

ABSTRACT Simulating the ground motions of future earthquakes requires a proper understanding and modeling of source, path, and site effects. Ground motions recorded during recent earthquakes very close to their ruptured faults provide new evidence of the importance of source effects and suggest that physics-based rupture modeling is critical to account for them. Here, we develop dynamic rupture models to simulate the near-fault ground motions generated by the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake (Mw 7.0) at Nishihara village, which feature a large-amplitude velocity pulse. Comparison of mainshock and foreshock waveforms suggests that the source of the velocity pulse is on the Futagawa fault segment located very close to the site. Our dynamic models use the spectral element method and are built upon a previous kinematic description of the event via a so-called “characterized source model,” with three strong-motion generation areas (SMGAs) on the assumed fault plane. We first develop a reference model that reproduces the main features of the rupture process in agreement with previous results of kinematic source inversion. We then examine the sensitivity of the simulated near-fault ground motions to the frictional parameters (critical slip-weakening distance and stress drop) in the shallow part of the fault and to the geometrical properties of the shallow SMGA. Even assuming drastically different frictional properties in the shallow part of the fault, the amplitude of the simulated ground motions was affected little. On the other hand, changes of geometrical properties of the shallow SMGA generated large differences in simulated ground motions. The results indicate that geometrical features of the shallow SMGA played a more important role in generating near-fault ground motions with velocity pulses as observed at Nishihara village during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.

Simulation of response spectrum-compatible ground motions using wavelet-based multi-resolution analysis

This study proposed a simple and effective response spectrum-compatible ground motions simulation method to mitigate the scarcity of ground motions on seismic hazard analysis base on wavelet-based multi-resolution analysis. The feasibility of the proposed method is illustrated with two recorded ground motions in El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. The results show that the proposed method enriches the ground motions exponentially. The simulated ground motions agree well with the attenuation characteristics of seismic ground motion without modulating process. Moreover, the pseudo-acceleration response spectrum error between the recorded ground motion and the average of the simulated ground motions is 5.2%, which fulfills the requirement prescribed in Eurocode 8 for artificially simulated ground motions. Besides, the cumulative power spectra between the simulated and recorded ground motions agree well on both high- and low-frequency regions. Therefore, the proposed method offers a feasible alternative in enriching response spectrum-compatible ground motions, especially on the regions with insufficient ground motions.

A subset of CyberShake ground-motion time series for response-history analysis

This manuscript describes a subset of CyberShake numerically simulated ground motions that were selected and vetted for use in engineering response-history analyses. Ground motions were selected that have seismological properties and response spectra representative of conditions in the Los Angeles area, based on disaggregation of seismic hazard. Ground motions were selected from millions of available time series and were reviewed to confirm their suitability for response-history analysis. The processes used to select the time series, the characteristics of the resulting data, and the provided documentation are described in this article. The resulting data and documentation are available electronically.