A comparison of NGA-West2 ground-motion models to recent Chinese data. Issue 125 (October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Chen; Galasso, Carmine
• Is Part Of: Soil dynamics and earthquake engineering. Issue 125(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Subjects: Ground-motion models -- China -- NGA-West2 -- Intensity measures; Soil dynamics -- Periodicals; Earthquake engineering -- Periodicals; Sols -- Dynamique -- Périodiques; Génie parasismique -- Périodiques; 624.176205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.soildyn.2019.05.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-7261

Abstract

Abstract: Sichuan Province is one of the most seismically active areas in China. Several major earthquakes have struck this region in recent years, including the 2008 M w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2013 M w 6.6 Lushan earthquake, and the 2017 M w 6.5 Jiuzhaigou earthquake, causing vast socio-economic loss. These events have considerably expanded the ground-motion database for China, with high-quality records that can be used to improve ground-motion models (GMMs) for China and worldwide, and for advancing seismic hazard assessment. This study investigates the compatibility of advanced GMMs established by the NGA-West2 (Enhancement of Next Generation Attenuation Relationships for Western US) project for application to shallow crustal earthquakes in tectonically active regions and a local GMM for China with the recent Chinese strong-motion data. Specifically, this study quantitatively investigates the compatibility of those models with respect to magnitude scaling, source-to-site distance scaling, and site-effect scaling implied by the considered Chinese data. The results show that the Chinese data is characterized by slower attenuation with respect to the NGA-West2 GMMs. Regression coefficients are re-estimated for the considered GMMs based on the Sichuan data. These updated international and local GMMs can be applied for seismic hazard analysis in Sichuan. The comparisons between the extended ground-motion database for the Sichuan Province and the updated NGA-West2 GMMs represent an important first step toward the future development of new, improved GMMs for Sichuan and, ultimately, for China. Highlights: The compatibility of advanced ground-motion models with recent Chinese strong-motion data is investigated. Bias in the considered ground-motion models is observed. Regression coefficients are re-estimated based on the considered data.