SIZE OF EARTHQUAKES

AND STRONG GROUND MOTION

ENGR. FROILAN P. NEY
SIZE OF EARTHQUAKES

 A very important parameter, and it has been

described in different ways.
 Methods for characterizing the size of earthquakes
were based on crude and qualitative descriptions of
the effects of the earthquakes.
 Modern seismographs have allowed the development
of a number of quantitative measures of earthquake
size.
EARTHQUAKE INTENSITY

 The intensity is a qualitative description of the effects of the earthquake at

a particular location, as evidenced by observed damage and human
reactions at that location.
 The concept of intensity can be applied to historical accounts to estimate the
locations and sizes of earthquakes that occurred prior to the development
of modern seismic instruments (preinstrumental earthquakes).
 This application has been very useful in characterizing the rates of
recurrence of earthquakes of different sizes in various locations, a critical
step in evaluation of the likelihood of seismic hazards.
 Intensities can also be used to estimate strong ground motion levels, for
comparison of earthquake effects in different geographic regions, and for
earthquake loss estimation.
Earthquake Intensity on a Map
DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTENSITY SCALE

1. Rossi-Forel (RF) scale of intensity, describing intensities with

values ranging from I to X, was developed in the 1880s and
used for many years.

2. Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) scale - originally

developed by the Italian seismologist Mercalli and modified in
1931 to better represent conditions in California (Richter,
1958).

3. Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) – Used in Japan

and it has its own intensity scale.

4. Medvedev-Spoonheuer-Karnik (MSK) scale - used in Comparison of Different Values

central and eastern Europe of Intensity Scales
HOW TO OBTAIN THE INTENSITY OF THE EARTHQUAKE

 Earthquake intensities are usually obtained from interviews of

observers after the event. The interviews are often done by
mail, but in some seismically active areas, permanent
observers are organized and trained to produce rational and
unemotional accounts of ground shaking.
 A plot of reported intensities at different locations on a map
allows contours of equal intensity, or isoseisms, to be plotted.
Such a map is called an isoseismal map . The intensity is
generally greatest in the vicinity of the epicenter of the
earthquake,
 The term epicentral intensity is often used as a crude
description of earthquake size. Isoseismal maps show how the Isoseismal Maps
intensity decreases, or attenuates, with increasing epicentral
distance.
How strong earthquake
feels to observer depends
on:

• Distance to epicenter
• Geology
• Type of building
• Observer
• Varies from place to
place
EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE

Seismic instruments allow an

objective, quantitative
measurement of earthquake
size called earthquake
magnitude to be made. Most
measurements of earthquake
magnitude are instrumental
(i.e., based on some measured
characteristic of ground
shaking).
In 1935, Charles Richter used a Wood-
Anderson seismometer to define a
magnitude scale for shallow, local
(epicentral distances less than about
600 km (375 miles)) earth quakes in
southern California (Richter, 1935).
Richter defined what is now known as
the local magnitude as the logarithm
(base 10) of the maximum trace
amplitude (in micro meters) recorded
on a Wood-Anderson seismometer
located 100 km (62 miles) from the
epicenter of the earthquake. The
Richter local magnitude (ML) is the
best-known magnitude scale, but it is
not always the most appropriate scale
for description of earthquake size.
STRONG GROUND MOTION

 Earthquake engineers are interested primarily in strong ground

motion (i.e., motion of sufficient strength to affect people and their
environment).
 The ground motions produced by earthquakes can be completely
described by three components of translation and three components
of rotation.
 Three characteristics of earthquake motion are of primary
significance:
(1) the amplitude
(2) frequency content, and
(3) duration of the motion.
GROUND MOTION PARAMETERS

Ground motion parameters are essential for describing the important characteristics of strong ground motion in
compact, quantitative form. Many parameters have been proposed to characterize the amplitude, frequency content,
and duration of strong ground motions; some describe only one of these characteristics, while others may reflect two or
three.

Amplitude Parameters

The most common way of describing a ground motion is with a time history. The motion parameter may be acceleration,
velocity, or displacement, or all three. Typically, only one of these quantities is measured directly with the others
computed from it by integration and/or differentiation. Note the different predominant frequencies in the acceleration,
velocity, and displacement time histories. The acceleration time history shows a significant proportion of relatively high
frequencies. Integration produces a smoothing or filtering effect [in the frequency domain.
Peak Acceleration

The most commonly used measure of the amplitude of a particular ground motion is the peak horizontal acceleration (PHA).
The PHA for a given component of motion is simply the largest (absolute) value of horizontal acceleration obtained from the
accelerogram of that component. By taking the vector sum of two orthogonal components, the maximum resultant PHA (the
direction of which will usually not coincide with either of the measured components) can be obtained.
Horizontal accelerations have commonly been used to describe ground motions because of their natural relationship to inertial
forces; indeed, the largest dynamic forces induced in certain types of structures (i.e., very stiff structures) are closely related to
the PHA.
Vertical accelerations have received less attention in earthquake engineering than horizontal accelerations, primarily because
the margins of safety against gravity-induced static vertical forces in constructed works usually provide adequate resistance to
dynamic forces induced by vertical accelerations during earthquakes.

Peak Velocity

Peak velocity is the largest absolute value of velocity time history. The peak horizontal velocity (PHV) is another useful
parameter for characterization of ground motion amplitude. Since the velocity is less sensitive to the higher-frequency
components of the ground motion
Peak Displacement

Peak Displacement reflect the amplitude of lower frequency components in ground motion. Peak displacements are
generally associated with the lower-frequency components of an earthquake motion. They are, however, often difficult
to determine accurately due to signal processing errors in the filtering and integration of accelerograms and due to
long-period noise. As a result, peak displacement is less commonly used as a measure of ground motion than is peak
acceleration or peak velocity.

Other Amplitude Parameters

Effective acceleration is the acceleration which is most closely related to structural response and to damage potential
of an earthquake. It differs from and is less than the peak free-field ground acceleration. It is a function of the size of
the loaded area, the frequency content of the excitation, which in turn depends on the closeness to the source of the
earthquake, and to the weight, embedment, damping characteristic, and stiffness of the structure and its foundation
Peak Displacement

Peak Displacement reflect the amplitude of lower frequency components in ground motion. Peak displacements are
generally associated with the lower-frequency components of an earthquake motion. They are, however, often difficult
to determine accurately due to signal processing errors in the filtering and integration of accelerograms and due to
long-period noise. As a result, peak displacement is less commonly used as a measure of ground motion than is peak
acceleration or peak velocity.

Other Amplitude Parameters

Effective acceleration is the acceleration which is most closely related to structural response and to damage potential of an
earthquake. It differs from and is less than the peak free-field ground acceleration. It is a function of the size of the loaded
area, the frequency content of the excitation, which in turn depends on the closeness to the source of the earthquake, and to
the weight, embedment, damping characteristic, and stiffness of the structure and its foundation
Effective Design Acceleration - the peak acceleration that remains after filtering out accelerations above 8 to 9 Hz. Kennedy
(1980) proposed that the effective design acceleration be 25% greater than the third highest (absolute) peak acceleration
obtained from a filtered time history.
Ground Motion Spectra

Any periodic function (i.e., any function that repeats itself exactly at a constant inter val) can be expressed using Fourier
analysis as the sum of a series of simple harmonic terms of different frequency, amplitude, and phase.

Fourier Spectra
The plot of Fourier amplitude of input time history vs time period or frequency is known as Fourier spectrum. Since the
Fourier analysis provides both amplitude and phase angles, Fourier spectra could either be a Fourier amplitude
spectrum or Fourier phase spectrum. The Fourier amplitude spectrum provides inputs on the frequency content of the
motion and helps to identify the predominant frequency of motion.

Power Spectra

The frequency content of a ground motion can also be described by a power spectrum or power spectral density
function. The power spectral density function can also be used to estimate the statistical properties of a ground motion
and to compute stochastic response using random vibration techniques
Response Spectra

A third type of spectrum is used extensively in earthquake engineering practice. The response spectrum describes the
maximum response of a single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system to a particular input motion as a function of the
natural frequency (or natural period) and damping ratio of the SDOF system. Response Spectra are very useful tools of
earthquake engineering for analyzing the performance of structures. Thus, if you can find out the natural frequency of
the structure, then the peak response of the building can be estimated by reading the value from the ground response
spectrum for the appropriate frequency.
Spectral Parameters
Each of these spectra is a com plicated function and, as with time histories, a great many data are required to describe
them completely. A number of spectral parameters have been proposed to extract important pieces of information from
each spectrum.

1. Predominant Period -A single parameter that provides a useful, although somewhat crude representation of the
frequency content of a ground motion is the predominant period, TP. The predominant period is defined as the period
corresponding to the maximum value of the Fourier amplitude spectrum.
2. Bandwidth - The bandwidth of the Fourier amplitude spectrum is the range of frequency over which some level of Fourier
amplitude is exceeded. Bandwidth is usually measured at the level where the power of the spectrum is half its maximum
value; this corresponds to a level of 1/√2 times the maximum Fourier amplitude. .

3. Central Frequency - The central frequency is a measure of the frequency where the power spectral density is
concentrated. It can also be used, along with the average intensity and duration, to calculate the theoretical median peak
acceleration.

4. Shape Factor - The shape factor (Vanmarcke, 1976) indicates the dispersion of the power spectral density function about
the central frequency. The shape factor always lies between 0 and 1, with higher values corresponding to larger
bandwidths.
ARIAS INTENSITY
The Arias Intensity (Ia) is a measure of the strength of a ground motion. It determines the intensity of shaking by
measuring the acceleration of transient seismic waves. It has been found to be a fairly reliable parameter to describe
earthquake shaking necessary to trigger landslides.

Campbell and Duke (1974) used data from California earthquakes to predict the variation of Arias intensity within 15 to
110 km (9 to 68 mi) of magnitude 4.5 to 8.5 events
SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF GROUND MOTIONS
The term spatial variation of seismic ground motions denotes the differences in amplitude and phase of seismic
motions recorded over extended areas. ... This differential motion can increase the response of lifelines beyond the
response expected if the input motions at the structures' supports were assumed to be identical.

Ground motions also vary spatially on local scales, and this local variation can be important for certain types of
structures. The longest dimension of most structures is usually small enough that the ground motion at one end is
virtually the same as that at the other end. For structures such as bridges and pipelines that extend over considerable
distances, different ground motions may occur beneath different parts of the structure. In such cases the local spatial
variation (or incoherence) of the ground motion may exert an important influence on the response of the structure.

The similarity between ground motions at different locations can be described in the time domain or the frequency
domain. Consider two points} and k at which accelerograms a/t) and ait) are recorded. The similarity of the motions can
be described in the time domain by the cross covariance.

where τ is a time increment and N is the number of time samples. The autocovariance, Cjj (or Ckk), is obtained by
analyzing the covariance of an accelerogram against itself.
END