Nonlinear Horizontal Site Amplification for Constraining the NGA-West2 GMPEs

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1223-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronnie Kamai ◽  
Norman A. Abrahamson ◽  
Walter J. Silva
Keyword(s):  
Site Response ◽  
Site Amplification ◽  
Nonlinear Material ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Soil Amplification ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Horizontal Ground Motion ◽  
Ground Motion Models ◽  
Two Alternatives

The nonlinear soil amplification models developed by Walling et al. (2008) are revisited for three main reasons: (a) the simulation database on which the models were developed has been updated and extended, (b) two alternatives for the input shaking parameter—(PGA and Sa( T))—are explored, and (c) a constraint on the nonlinearity at long periods is removed. The model is based on site amplification factors, relative to a V S30 = 1;180 m/s site. Simulations included a wide range of soil profiles, shaking amplitudes and soil properties, from which only a subset was used herein. Finally, four models for the nonlinear site amplification are developed using two nonlinear material property models (peninsular range and EPRI) and two input-shaking parameters ( PGA1180 and Sa1180( T)). These results are intended for use by the NGA-West2 developers to constrain the nonlinear scaling of the site response for the horizontal ground motion models.

Testing non-linear amplification factors used in ground motion models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Loviknes ◽  
Danijel Schorlemmer ◽  
Fabrice Cotton ◽  
Sreeram Reddy Kotha
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Effects ◽  
Ground Motions ◽  
Site Amplification ◽  
Building Codes ◽  
Linear Amplification ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Earthquake Predictability ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Ground Motion Models

<p>Non-linear site effects are mainly expected for strong ground motions and sites with soft soils and more recent ground-motion models (GMM) have started to include such effects. Observations in this range are, however, sparse, and most non-linear site amplification models are therefore partly or fully based on numerical simulations. We develop a framework for testing of non-linear site amplification models using data from the comprehensive Kiban-Kyoshin network in Japan. The test is reproducible, following the vision of the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP), and takes advantage of new large datasets to evaluate <span>whether or not</span> non-linear site effects predicted by site-amplification models are supported by empirical data. The site amplification models are tested using residuals between the observations and predictions from a GMM based only on magnitude and distance. When the GMM is derived without any site term, the site-specific variability extracted from the residuals is expected to capture the site response of a site. The non-linear site amplification models are tested against a linear amplification model on individual well-record<span>ing</span> stations. Finally, the result is compared to building codes where non-linearity is included. The test shows that for most of the sites selected as having sufficient records, the non-linear site-amplification models do not score better than the linear amplification model. This suggests that including non-linear site amplification in GMMs and building codes may not yet be justified, at least not in the range of ground motions considered in the test (peak ground acceleration < 0.2 g).</p>

Significance of site natural period effects for linear site amplification in central and eastern North America: Empirical and simulation-based models

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef M. A. Hashash ◽  
Okan Ilhan ◽  
Behzad Hassani ◽  
Gail M. Atkinson ◽  
Joseph Harmon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Site Amplification ◽  
Empirical Models ◽  
Response Analysis ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Natural Period ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Simulation Based

This article evaluates linear simulation-based and empirical site amplification models including site natural period dependency parameters to account for the distinctive amplification behavior near site fundamental frequencies resulting from the sharp impedance contrast between soil and underlying hard bedrock in central and eastern North America (CENA). The simulation-based amplification models are developed using 581,685 frequency-domain linear analyses generated from a parametric study and include VS30-scaling and site natural period ( Tnat) parameters. The empirical models are derived from residuals analyses of ground-motion models for two reference conditions: B/C boundary ( VS30 = 760 m/s) and CENA hard-rock condition ( VS = 3000 m/s). The simulation-based and empirical models are compared for 8 site profiles in CENA to measured horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) component response spectral (RS) ratios, the mean of linear simulations for similar sites, and one-dimensional (1D) linear site response analysis for four of these sites. Comparisons between observed and estimated site amplification behaviors highlight model dependency on Tnat in CENA. Model consistencies and differences related to the distinct linear amplification features near site fundamental frequency are discussed.

Empirical Linear Seismic Site Amplification in Central and Eastern North America

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 849-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace A. Parker ◽  
Jonathan P. Stewart ◽  
Youssef M. A. Hashash ◽  
Ellen M. Rathje ◽  
Kenneth W. Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Site Amplification ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Resonance Effects ◽  
Bayesian Techniques ◽  
Motion Data ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Scaling Models

We present empirical linear site amplification models conditioned on time-averaged shear wave velocity in the upper 30 m ( VS30) for central and eastern North America. The models are derived from ground motion data and site condition information from the NGA-East project and are intended for use with reference rock ground motion models. Site amplification is found to scale with VS30 for intermediate to stiff site conditions ( VS30 > 300 m/s) in a weaker manner than for active tectonic regions such as the western United States. For stiff sites ( >800 m/s), we find differences in site amplification for previously glaciated and nonglaciated regions, with nonglaciated sites having lower amplification. The models were developed using a combination of least-squares, mixed effects, and Bayesian techniques; the latter show that accounting for predictor uncertainty does not appreciably affect the median model but decreases model dispersion. Our VS30-scaling models are modular and additive to simulation-based models for the nonlinear components of site response. A limitation of the present models is that they do not account for site-specific resonance effects.

scholarly journals Selecting Ground-Motion Models for Site-Specific PSHA: Adaptability versus Applicability

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (6) ◽  
pp. 2801-2815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian J. Bommer ◽  
Peter J. Stafford
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
The Body ◽  
Stochastic Simulations ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Target Region ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Site Characteristics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ground Motion Models

ABSTRACT Capturing the center, the body, and the range of ground-motion predictions is an indispensable element of site-specific probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHAs), for which the logic tree is the ubiquitous tool in current practice. The criteria for selecting the ground-motion models (GMMs) used in such studies have generally been focused on their potential applicability to the region and site for which the PSHA is being conducted. However, except for applications within the few regions with abundant ground-motion databases, it will rarely be the case that GMMs can be identified, which are perfectly calibrated to the characteristics of the target study region in terms of source and path properties. A good match between the generic site amplification model within the GMM and the site-specific dynamic response characteristics is equally, if not more, unlikely. Consequently, adjustments are likely to be made to the selected GMMs to render them more applicable to the target region and site. Empirical adjustments for host-to-target-region source differences using local recordings are unlikely to be robust, unless these have been generated by earthquakes from a wide range of magnitudes. Empirical adjustments for site characteristics are impossible, unless there are recordings from the target site. Therefore, the preferred approach makes parametric adjustments to empirical GMMs, isolating each host-to-target difference to map the individual contributions to the epistemic uncertainty. For such an approach to be applied, the emphasis moves from selecting GMMs on the basis of their applicability to focusing on their amenability to being adjusted to the target region and site. An adaptable equation is characterized by well-constrained host-region source, path, and site characteristics and a functional form in which response spectral accelerations scale with source, path, and site characteristics in a manner similar to the scaling implicit in stochastic simulations based on Fourier amplitude spectra.

Residual analysis of large strong-motion flatfiles as a tool for detecting data error and anomalies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Mascandola ◽  
Giovanni Lanzano ◽  
Francesca Pacor
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Strong Motion ◽  
Consistency Check ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Tree Classifier ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ground Motion Models

<p>The rapid increase of seismic waveforms, due to the increment of seismic stations and continuous real-time streaming to data centres, leads to the need for automatic procedures aimed at supporting data processing and data quality control. In this study, we propose a semi-automatic procedure for the consistency check of large strong-motion datasets, classifying the anomalies observed on the residuals analysis and identifying the possible causes.</p><p>The data collected in the strong-motion databases are usually arranged as parametric tables (called flatfiles), used to disseminate the Intensity Measures (IMs) and the associated metadata of the processed waveforms. This is the current practice for the ITalian ACcelerometric Archive (ITACA, D’Amico et al., 2020) and Engineering Strong Motion (ESM; Lanzano et al. 2019a) databases. The adopted criteria for flatfile compilation are designed to collect IMs and related metadata in a uniform, updated, and traceable way, with the aim of providing datasets useful to develop Ground Motion Models (GMMs) for Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) and engineering applications. Therefore, the consistency check of the flatfiles is a crucial task to improve the quality of the products provided by the waveform services.</p><p>The proposed procedure is based on the residual distributions obtained from ad-hoc ground motion prediction equations for the ordinates of the 5% damped acceleration response spectra. In this study, we focus on the active shallow crust events in ITACA, considering the ITA18 ground motion model (Lanzano et al., 2019b) as a reference for Italy. The total residuals, computed as logarithm difference between observations and predictions, are decomposed in between-event, between-station and event-and-station corrected residuals by applying a mixed-effect regression (Bates et al., 2015). This is the common practice for the (partial) removal of the ergodic assumption in empirical GMMs (e.g., Stafford 2014), where the contribution of the systematic corrective effects of event and station on aleatory variability are identified and shifted to the epistemic uncertainty. Afterward, the proposed procedure is applied to raise a warning in case of anomalous residual values. Warnings are provided when the normalized residuals exceed a certain threshold, in three ranges of periods (i.e., 0.01-0.15 s, 0.15-1 s, 1-5 s). The causes of warnings may be several and may concern the event, the site, the waveform, or a combination of them. Among the possible sources of anomalous trends, the more common are: preliminary or inaccurate event localization or magnitude, wrong soil category assigned based on proxies, misleading tectonic regime assigned to the earthquake, and fault directivity that may cause strong-ground motion amplification in certain directions. Warnings may also raise for peculiarities in the site-response (e.g., large amplifications/de-amplifications at certain frequency-bands) and to the occurrence of near-source effects in the waveforms (see Pacor et al., 2018). Based on the raised warnings, a decision tree classifier is developed to identify the common anomaly sources and to support the consistency check of the semi-automatic procedure.</p><p>This study may help to enhance the waveform services and related products, besides reducing the variability of ground motion models and guiding decisions for site characterization studies and network maintenance.</p>

Evaluation of Ground-Motion Models for USGS Seismic Hazard Models Using Near-Source Instrumental Ground-Motion Recordings of the Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 1517-1529
Author(s):  
Daniel E. McNamara ◽  
Emily L. G. Wolin ◽  
Morgan P. Moschetti ◽  
Eric M. Thompson ◽  
Peter M. Powers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Ground Motion ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Site Amplification ◽  
Earthquake Sequence ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
Ground Motion Models

ABSTRACT We evaluated the performance of 12 ground-motion models (GMMs) for earthquakes in the tectonically active shallow crustal region of southern California using instrumental ground-motion observations from the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence (Mw 4.0–7.1). The sequence was well recorded by the Southern California Seismic Network and rapid response portable aftershock monitoring stations. Ground-motion recordings of this size and proximity are rare, valuable, and independent of GMM development, allowing us to evaluate the predictive powers of GMMs. We first compute total residuals and compare the probability density functions, means, and standard deviations of the observed and predicted ground motions. Next we use the total residuals as inputs to the probabilistic scoring method (log-likelihood [LLH]). The LLH method provides a single score that can be used to weight GMMs in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) logic trees. We also explore GMM performance for a range of earthquake magnitudes, wave propagation distances, and site characteristics. We find that the Next Generation Attenuation West-2 (NGAW2) active crust GMMs perform well for the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence and thus validate their use in the 2018 USGS NSHM. However, significant ground-motion residual scatter remains unmodeled by NGAW2 GMMs due to complexities such as local site amplification and source directivity. Results from this study will inform logic-tree weights for updates to the USGS National NSHM. Results from this study support the use of nonergodic GMMs that can account for regional attenuation and site variations to minimize epistemic uncertainty in USGS NSHMs.

Ground Motion Prediction Equations for the Vertical Ground Motion Component Based on the NGA-W2 Database

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeynep Gülerce ◽  
Ronnie Kamai ◽  
Norman A. Abrahamson ◽  
Walter J. Silva
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Nonlinear Site Response ◽  
Vertical Ground Motion ◽  
Vertical Ground ◽  
Standard Deviations ◽  
Ground Motion Models

Empirical ground motion models for the vertical component from shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions are derived using the PEER NGA-West2 database. The model is applicable to magnitudes 3.0–8.0, distances of 0–300 km, and spectral periods of 0–10 s. The model input parameters are the same as used by Abrahamson et al. (2014) except that the nonlinear site response and depth to bedrock effects are evaluated but found to be insignificant. Regional differences in large distance attenuation and site amplification scaling between California, Japan, China, Taiwan, Italy, and the Middle East are included. Scaling for the hanging-wall effect is incorporated using the constraints from numerical simulations by Donahue and Abrahamson (2014) . The standard deviation is magnitude dependent with smaller magnitudes leading to larger standard deviations at short periods but smaller standard deviations at long periods. The vertical ground motion model developed in this study can be paired with the horizontal component model proposed by Abrahamson et al. (2014) to produce a V/H ratio. For applications where the horizontal spectrum is derived from the weighted average of several horizontal ground motion models, a V/H model derived directly from the V/H data (such as Gülerce and Abrahamson 2011 ) should be preferred.

NGA-subduction global ground motion models with regional adjustment factors

2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110348
Author(s):  
Grace A Parker ◽  
Jonathan P Stewart ◽  
David M Boore ◽  
Gail M Atkinson ◽  
Behzad Hassani
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Peak Ground Velocity ◽  
Earthquake Ground Motion ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Magnitude Scaling ◽  
Aleatory Variability ◽  
Single Station ◽  
Ground Motion Models

We develop semi-empirical ground motion models (GMMs) for peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and 5%-damped pseudo-spectral accelerations for periods from 0.01 to 10 s, for the median orientation-independent horizontal component of subduction earthquake ground motion. The GMMs are applicable to interface and intraslab subduction earthquakes in Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Central America, South America, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and Cascadia. The GMMs are developed using a combination of data inspection, data regression with respect to physics-informed functions, ground-motion simulations, and geometrical constraints for certain model components. The GMMs capture observed differences in source and path effects for interface and intraslab events, conditioned on moment magnitude, rupture distance, and hypocentral depth. Site effect and aleatory variability models are shared between event types. Regionalized GMM components include the model constant (that controls ground motion amplitude), anelastic attenuation, magnitude-scaling break point, linear site response, and sediment depth terms. We develop models for the aleatory between-event variability [Formula: see text], within-event variability [Formula: see text], single-station within-event variability [Formula: see text], and site-to-site variability [Formula: see text]. Ergodic analyses should use the median GMM and aleatory variability computed using the between-event and within-event variability models. An analysis incorporating non-ergodic site response should use the median GMM at the reference shear-wave velocity condition, a site-specific site response model, and aleatory variability computed using the between-event and single-station within-event variability models. Epistemic uncertainty in the median model is represented by standard deviations on the regional model constants, which facilitates scaled-backbone representations of model uncertainty in hazard analyses.

scholarly journals The new Italian seismic hazard model (MPS19)

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Meletti ◽  
Warner Marzocchi ◽  
Vera D'Amico ◽  
Giovanni Lanzano ◽  
Lucia Luzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Ground Motion ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Hazard Model ◽  
Ground Acceleration ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Macroseismic Intensities ◽  
Ground Motion Models

We describe the main structure and outcomes of the new probabilistic seismic hazard model for Italy, MPS19 [Modello di Pericolosità Sismica, 2019]. Besides to outline the probabilistic framework adopted, the multitude of new data that have been made available after the preparation of the previous MPS04, and the set of earthquake rate and ground motion models used, we give particular emphasis to the main novelties of the modeling and the MPS19 outcomes. Specifically, we (i) introduce a novel approach to estimate and to visualize the epistemic uncertainty over the whole country; (ii) assign weights to each model components (earthquake rate and ground motion models) according to a quantitative testing phase and structured experts’ elicitation sessions; (iii) test (retrospectively) the MPS19 outcomes with the horizontal peak ground acceleration observed in the last decades, and the macroseismic intensities of the last centuries; (iv) introduce a pioneering approach to build MPS19_cluster, which accounts for the effect of earthquakes that have been removed by declustering. Finally, to make the interpretation of MPS19 outcomes easier for a wide range of possible stakeholders, we represent the final result also in terms of probability to exceed 0.15 g in 50 years.

Ground-motion models for Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes

2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110329
Author(s):  
Elena Florinela Manea ◽  
Carmen Ortanza Cioflan ◽  
Laurentiu Danciu
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motion ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Seismic Station ◽  
Moment Magnitude ◽  
Peak Ground Velocity ◽  
Ground Acceleration ◽  
Ground Shaking ◽  
Intermediate Depth ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Ground Motion Models

A newly compiled high-quality ground-shaking dataset of 207 intermediate-depth earthquakes recorded in the Vrancea region of the south-eastern Carpathian mountains in Romania was used to develop region-specific empirical predictive equations for various intensity measures: peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and 5%-damped pseudo-spectral acceleration up to 10 s. Besides common predictor variables (e.g. moment magnitude, depth, hypocentral distance, and site conditions), additional distance scaling parameters were added to describe the specific attenuation pattern observed at the stations located not only on the back and fore but also along the Carpathian arc. In this model, we introduce a proxy measure for the site as the fundamental frequency of resonance to characterize the site response at each recording seismic station beside the soil classes. To additionally reduce the site-to-site variability, a non-ergodic methodology was considered, resulting in a lower standard deviation of about 25%. Statistical evaluation of the newly proposed ground-motion models indicates robust performance compared to regional observations. The model shows significant improvements in describing the spatial variability (at different spectral ordinates), particularly for the fore-arc area of the Carpathians where a deep sedimentary basin is located. Furthermore, the model presented herein improves estimates of ground shaking at longer spectral ordinates (>1 s) in agreement with the observations. The proposed ground-motion models are valid for hypocentral distances less than 500 km, depths over 70 km and within the moment magnitude range of 4.0–7.4.

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