Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Assimaki, D. Articles by Tsuda, K. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Site Amplification and Attenuation via Downhole Array Seismogram Inversion: A Comparative Study of the 2003 Miyagi-Oki Aftershock Sequence

Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 790 Atlantic Drive NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332 dominic.assimaki{at}ce.gatech.edu wli3{at}mail.gatech.edu

Jamison H. Steidl and Kenichi Tsuda

Institute for Crustal Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 steidl{at}crustal.ucsb.edu kenichi{at}crustal.ucsb.edu

Weak-motion geotechnical array recordings at 38 stations of the Japanese strong-motion network KiK-Net from the 2003 M_w 7.0 Miyagi-Oki aftershock sequence are used here to quantify the amplification and attenuation effects of near-surface formations to incident seismic motion. Initially, a seismic waveform optimization algorithm is implemented for the evaluation of high-resolution, low-strain velocity (V_s), attenuation (Q_s), and density () profiles at the sites of interest. Based on the inversion results, V_s versus Q_s correlations are developed, and scattering versus intrinsic attenuation effects are accounted for in their physical interpretation. Surface-to-downhole traditional spectral ratios (SSR), cross-spectral ratios (c-SSR), and horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) site-response estimates are next evaluated and compared, while their effectiveness is assessed as a function of the site conditions classified on the basis of the weighted average V_s of the upper 30 m (V_s30) of the formations. Single and reference-station site-response estimates are successively compared to surface-to-rock outcrop amplification spectra and are evaluated by deconvolution of the downhole records based on the inversion results; comparison of the observed SSR and estimated surface-to-rock outcrop amplification spectra illustrates the effects of destructive interference of downgoing waves at the downhole instrument level as a function of the site class. Site amplification factors are successively computed in reference to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B–C boundary site conditions (V_s30=760 m/sec), and results are compared to published values developed on the basis of strong-motion data and site-response analyses. Finally, weak-motion SSR estimates are compared to the mainshock spectra, and conclusions are drawn for the implications of soil nonlinearity in the near surface. Results presented in this article suggest that currently employed site classification criteria need to be reevaluated to ensure intraclass consistency in the assessment of amplification potentials and nonlinearity susceptibility of near-surficial soil formations.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Ge, J. Pujol, S. Pezeshk, and S. Stovall Determination of Shallow Shear-Wave Attenuation in the Mississippi Embayment Using Vertical Seismic Profiling Data Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, June 1, 2009; 99(3): 1636 - 1649. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Assimaki, W. Li, J. Steidl, and J. Schmedes Quantifying Nonlinearity Susceptibility via Site-Response Modeling Uncertainty at Three Sites in the Los Angeles Basin Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, October 1, 2008; 98(5): 2364 - 2390. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]