Seismic hazard curves and uniform hazard response spectra for the United States - A user guide

Author(s):  
A.D. Frankel ◽  
E.V. Leyendecker
2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1626-1651
Author(s):  
John E Lens M.EERI ◽  
Mandar M Dewoolkar ◽  
Eric M Hernandez M.EERI

This article describes the approach, methods, and findings of a quantitative analysis of the seismic vulnerability in low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions of the Central and Eastern United States for system-wide assessment of typical multiple span bridges built in the 1950s through the 1960s. There is no national database on the status of seismic vulnerability of bridges, and thus no means to estimate the system-wide damage and retrofit costs for bridges. The study involved 380 nonlinear analyses using actual time-history records matched to four representative low-to-medium hazard target spectra corresponding with peak ground accelerations from approximately 0.06 to 0.3 g. Ground motions were obtained from soft and stiff site seismic classification locations and applied to models of four typical multiple-girder with concrete bent bridges. Multiple-girder bridges are the largest single category, comprising 55% of all multiple span bridges in the United States. Aging and deterioration effects were accounted for using reduced cross-sections representing fully spalled conditions and compared with pristine condition results. The research results indicate that there is an overall low likelihood of significant seismic damage to these typical bridges in such regions, with the caveat that certain bridge features such as more extensive deterioration, large skews, and varied bent heights require bridge-specific analysis. The analysis also excludes potential damage resulting from liquefaction, flow-spreading, or abutment slumping due to weak foundation or abutment soils.


1981 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-334
Author(s):  
Robin K. McGuire ◽  
Theodore P. Barnhard

abstract The accuracy of stationary mathematical models of seismicity for calculating probabilities of damaging shaking is examined using the history of earthquakes in China from 1350 A.D. to 1949 A.D. During this time, rates of seismic activity varied periodically by a factor of 10. Probabilities of damaging shaking are calculated in 62 cities in North China using 50 yr of earthquake data to estimate seismicity parameters; the probabilities are compared to statistics of damaging shaking in the same cities for 50 yr following the data window. These comparisons indicate that the seismic hazard analysis is accurate if: (1) the maximum possible earthquake size in each seismogenic zone is determined from the entire seismic history rather than from a short-time window; and (2) the future seismic activity can be estimated accurately. The first condition emphasizes the importance of realistically estimating the maximum possible size of earthquakes on faults. The second indicates the need to understand possible trends in seismic activity where these exist, or to develop an earthquake prediction capability with which to estimate future activity. Without the capability of estimating future seismicity, stationary models provide less accurate but generally conservative indications of seismic ground-shaking hazard. In the United States, the available earthquake history is brief but gives no indication of changing rates of activity. The rate of seismic strain release in the Central and Eastern United States has been constant over the last 180 yr, and the geological record of earthquakes on the southern San Andreas Fault indicates no temporal trend for large shocks over the last 15 centuries. Both observations imply that seismic activity is either stationary or of such a long period that it may be treated as stationary for seismic hazard analyses in the United States.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandip Das ◽  
Ishwer D. Gupta ◽  
Vinay K. Gupta

Seismic hazard maps have been prepared for Northeast India based on the uniform hazard response spectra for absolute acceleration at stiff sites. An approach that is free from regionalizing the seismotectonic sources has been proposed for performing the hazard analysis. Also, a new attenuation model for pseudo-spectral velocity scaling has been developed by using 261 recorded accelerograms in Northeast India. In the present study, the entire area of Northeast India has been divided into 0.1° grid size, and the hazard level has been assessed for each node of this grid by considering the seismicity within a 300-km radius around the node. Using the past earthquake data, the seismicity for the area around each node has been evaluated by defining a and b values of the Gutenberg-Richter recurrence relationship, while accounting for the incompleteness of the earthquake catalogue. To consider the spatial distribution of seismicity around each node, a spatially smoothed probability distribution function of the observed epicentral distances has been used. Uniform hazard contours for pseudo-spectral acceleration as the hazard parameter have been obtained for an exposure time of 100 years and for 50% confidence level at different natural periods for both horizontal and vertical components of ground motion. The trends reflected by these contours are broadly consistent with the major seismotectonic features in the region.


Author(s):  
A. K. Ghosh ◽  
H. S. Kushwaha

The various uncertainties and randomness associated with the occurrence of earthquakes and the consequences of their effects on the NPP components and structures call for a probabilistic seismic risk assessment (PSRA). However, traditionally, the seismic design basis ground motion has been specified by normalised response spectral shapes and peak ground acceleration (PGA). The mean recurrence interval (MRI) used to be computed for PGA only. The present work develops uniform hazard response spectra i.e. spectra having the same MRI at all frequencies for Kakrapar Atomic Power Station site. Sensitivity of the results to the changes in various parameters has also been presented. These results determine the seismic hazard at the given site and the associated uncertainties. The paper also presents some results of the seismic fragility for an existing containment structure. The various parameters that could affect the seismic structural response include material strength of concrete, structural damping available within the structure and the normalized ground motion response spectral shape. Based on this limited case study the seismic fragility of the structure is developed. The results are presented as families of conditional probability curves plotted against the peak ground acceleration (PGA). The procedure adopted incorporates the various randomness and uncertainty associated with the parameters under consideration.


1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Slejko ◽  
R. Camassi ◽  
I. Cecic ◽  
D. Herak ◽  
M. Herak ◽  
...  

The Adriatic region was chosen as one of the test areas in the GSHAP program and, consequently, its seismic hazard was computed. The standard hazard map chosen by GSHAP represents PGA with a 475-year return period. Some other parameters, as the spectral acceleration and the uniform hazard response spectra for the main Adriatic towns, have been computed for a better representation of the regional hazard. The most hazardous area remains identified in the Cephalonia zone, where strong earthquakes frequently occur. The Southern Apennines are characterised by a slightly lower hazard, while the Adriatic Sea itself, the Poplain and the Apulian peninsula are almost aseismic.


2020 ◽  
pp. 875529302097097
Author(s):  
Allison M Shumway ◽  
Mark D Petersen ◽  
Peter M Powers ◽  
Sanaz Rezaeian ◽  
Kenneth S Rukstales ◽  
...  

As part of the update of the 2018 National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the conterminous United States (CONUS), new ground motion and site effect models for the central and eastern United States were incorporated, as well as basin depths from local seismic velocity models in four western US (WUS) urban areas. These additions allow us, for the first time, to calculate probabilistic seismic hazard curves for an expanded set of spectral periods (0.01 to 10 s) and site classes (VS30 = 150 to 1500 m/s) for the CONUS, as well as account for amplification of long-period ground motions in deep sedimentary basins in the Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay, Seattle, and Salt Lake City areas. Two sets of 2018 NSHM hazard data (hazard curves and uniform-hazard ground motions) are available: (1) 0.05°-latitude-by-0.05°-longitude gridded data for the CONUS and (2) higher resolution 0.01°-latitude-by-0.01°-longitude gridded data for the four WUS basins. Both sets of data contain basin effects in the WUS deep sedimentary basins. Uniform-hazard ground motion data are interpolated for 2, 5, and 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years from the hazard curves. The gridded data for the hazard curves and uniform-hazard ground motions, for all periods and site classes, are available for download at the U.S. Geological Survey ScienceBase Catalog ( https://doi.org/10.5066/P9RQMREV ). The design ground motions derived from the hazard curves have been accepted by the Building Seismic Safety Council for adoption in the 2020 National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program Recommended Seismic Provisions.


Author(s):  
Mark D. Petersen ◽  
Arthur D. Frankel ◽  
Stephen C. Harmsen ◽  
Charles S. Mueller ◽  
Kathleen M. Haller ◽  
...  

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin R. Collins

structural design, Limit design, Spectra The seismic design provisions of most building codes in the United States specify ground motion parameters for various regions of the country and provide simple formulas to determine a distribution of lateral forces for which the structure should be designed. The simple formulas typically involve the use of one or more “factors” to account for anticipated inelastic behavior of the structure, relative importance of the structure, and site soil effects. Although these code provisions are very simple to use, they oversimplify a complex problem and are based on many implicit assumptions which many designers may not appreciate. Furthermore, the reliability of the final design is not known. This paper describes the key features of an alternative seismic design procedure in which the underlying assumptions are more clearly defined and which provides a more uniform level of reliability in the final design. The procedure requires the designer to consider two levels of earthquake excitation. An “equivalent” single-degree-of-freedom model and uniform hazard response spectra are used to predict structural performance. The alternative procedure should enable designers to achieve code-specified target performance objectives for moderate and severe levels of earthquake excitation.


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