Geology topics

D.M. Boore

Publications and source records attributed to D.M. Boore.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2011

Regional correlations of V S 30 averaged over depths less than and greater than 30 meters

Using velocity profiles from sites in Japan, California, Turkey, and Europe, we find that the time-averaged shear-wave velocity to 30 m ( V S 30 ), used as a proxy for site amplification in recent ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) and building codes, is strongly correlated with average velocities to depths less than 30 m ( V Sz , with z being the averaging depth). The correlations for sites in Japan (corresponding to the KiK-net network) show that V Sz is systematically larger for a given V Sz than for profiles from the other regions. The difference largely results from the placement of the KiK-net station locations on rock and rocklike sites, whereas stations in the other regions are generally placed in urban areas underlain by sediments. Using the KiK-net velocity profiles, we provide equations relating V S 30 to V Sz for z ranging from 5 to 29 m in 1-m increments. These equations (and those for California velocity profiles given in Boore, 2004b) can be used to estimate V S 30 from V Sz for sites in which velocity profiles do not extend to 30 m. The scatter of the residuals decreases with depth, but, even for an averaging depth of 5 m, a variation in log V S 30 of ±1 standard deviation maps into less than a 20% uncertainty in ground motions given by recent GMPEs at short periods. The sensitivity of the ground motions to V S 30 uncertainty is considerably larger at long periods (but is less than a factor of 1.2 for averaging depths greater than about 20 m). We also find that V S 30 is correlated with V Sz for z as great as 400 m for sites of the KiK-net network, providing some justification for using V S 30 as a site-response variable for predicting ground motions at periods for which the wavelengths far exceed 30 m.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2011

Modifications to existing ground-motion prediction equations in light of new data

We compare our recent ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for western North America (WNA; Boore and Atkinson, 2008 [BA08]) and eastern North America (ENA; Atkinson and Boore, 2006 [AB06]; Atkinson, 2008 [A08]) to newly available ground-motion data. Based on these comparisons, we suggest revisions to our GMPEs for both WNA and ENA. The revisions for WNA affect only those events with M ≤ 5:75, while those for ENA affect all magnitudes. These are simple modi[1]fications to the existing GMPEs that bring them into significantly better agreement with data. The wealth of new data clearly demonstrates that these modifications are warranted; we therefore recommend the use of the updated equations for seismic hazard analyses and other applications. More detailed studies are under way by many investigators (including ourselves) to develop a new generation of ground-motion models in both WNA and ENA from scratch, through a comprehensive reevaluation of source, path, site, and modeling issues. In time, those more complete models will replace those proposed in this study. However, as the new models will be several years in development, we recommend using the modified models proposed herein, labeled BA08′ (for WNA), AB06′ (for ENA), and A08′ (for ENA, to replace A08), as interim updates to our existing models. The proposed models are in demonstrable agreement with a rich database of ground motions for moderate-magnitude earthquakes in both WNA and ENA and are constrained at larger magnitudes by the BA08 magnitude and distance scaling.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2010

High-frequency filtering of strong-motion records

The influence of noise in strong-motion records is most problematic at low and high frequencies where the signal to noise ratio is commonly low compared to that in the mid-spectrum. The impact of low-frequency noise (<1 Hz) on strong-motion intensity parameters such as ground velocities, displacements and response spectral ordinates can be dramatic and consequentially it has become standard practice to low-cut (high-pass) filter strong-motion data with corner frequencies often chosen based on the shape of Fourier amplitude spectra and the signal-to-noise ratio. It has been shown that response spectral ordinates should not be used beyond some fraction of the corner period (reciprocal of the corner frequency) of the low-cut filter. This article examines the effect of high-frequency noise (>5 Hz) on computed pseudo-absolute response spectral accelerations (PSAs). In contrast to the case of low-frequency noise our analysis shows that filtering to remove high-frequency noise is only necessary in certain situations and that PSAs can often be used up to 100 Hz even if much lower high-cut corner frequencies are required to remove the noise. This apparent contradiction can be explained by the fact that PSAs are often controlled by ground accelerations associated with much lower frequencies than the natural frequency of the oscillator because path and site attenuation (often modelled by Q and κ, respectively) have removed the highest frequencies. We demonstrate that if high-cut filters are to be used, then their corner frequencies should be selected on an individual basis, as has been done in a few recent studies.

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering↗

USGS2010

Determination of stress parameters for eight well-recorded earthquakes in eastern North America

We determined the stress parameter, Δσ , for the eight earthquakes studied by Atkinson and Boore (2006), using an updated dataset and a revised point-source stochastic model that captures the effect of a finite fault. We consider four geometrical-spreading functions, ranging from 1/ R at all distances to two- or three-part functions. The Δσ values are sensitive to the rate of geometrical spreading at close distances, with 1/ R 1.3 spreading implying much higher Δσ than models with 1/ R spreading. The important difference in ground motions of most engineering concern, however, arises not from whether the geometrical spreading is 1/ R 1.3 or 1/ R at close distances, but from whether a region of flat or increasing geometrical spreading at intermediate distances is present, as long as Δσ is constrained by data that are largely at distances of 100 km–800 km. The simple 1/ R model fits the sparse data for the eight events as well as do more complex models determined from larger datasets (where the larger datasets were used in our previous ground-motion prediction equations); this suggests that uncertainty in attenuation rates is an important component of epistemic uncertainty in ground-motion modeling. For the attenuation model used by Atkinson and Boore (2006), the average value of Δσ from the point-source model ranges from 180 bars to 250 bars, depending on whether or not the stress parameter from the 1988 Saguenay earthquake is included in the average. We also find that Δσ for a given earthquake is sensitive to its moment magnitude M , with a change of 0.1 magnitude units producing a factor of 1.3 change in the derived Δσ .

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2009

Comparing stochastic point-source and finite-source ground-motion simulations: SMSIM and EXSIM

Comparisons of ground motions from two widely used point-source and finite-source ground-motion simulation programs (SMSIM and EXSIM) show that the following simple modifications in EXSIM will produce agreement in the motions from a small earthquake at a large distance for the two programs: (1) base the scaling of high frequencies on the integral of the squared Fourier acceleration spectrum; (2) do not truncate the time series from each subfault; (3) use the inverse of the subfault corner frequency for the duration of motions from each subfault; and (4) use a filter function to boost spectral amplitudes at frequencies near and less than the subfault corner frequencies. In addition, for SMSIM an effective distance is defined that accounts for geometrical spreading and anelastic attenuation from various parts of a finite fault. With these modifications, the Fourier and response spectra from SMSIM and EXSIM are similar to one another, even close to a large earthquake (M 7), when the motions are averaged over a random distribution of hypocenters. The modifications to EXSIM remove most of the differences in the Fourier spectra from simulations using pulsing and static subfaults; they also essentially eliminate any dependence of the EXSIM simulations on the number of subfaults. Simulations with the revised programs suggest that the results of Atkinson and Boore (2006), computed using an average stress parameter of 140 bars and the original version of EXSIM, are consistent with the revised EXSIM with a stress parameter near 250 bars.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2008

Ground-motion prediction equations for the average horizontal component of PGA, PGV, and 5%-damped PSA at spectral periods between 0.01 s and 10.0 s

This paper contains ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for average horizontal-component ground motions as a function of earthquake magnitude, distance from source to site, local average shear-wave velocity, and fault type. Our equations are for peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), and 5%-damped pseudo-absolute-acceleration spectra (PSA) at periods between 0.01 s and 10 s. They were derived by empirical regression of an extensive strong-motion database compiled by the 'PEER NGA' (Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center's Next Generation Attenuation) project. For periods less than 1 s, the analysis used 1,574 records from 58 mainshocks in the distance range from 0 km to 400 km (the number of available data decreased as period increased). The primary predictor variables are moment magnitude (M), closest horizontal distance to the surface projection of the fault plane (RJB), and the time-averaged shear-wave velocity from the surface to 30 m (VS30). The equations are applicable for M=5-8, RJB<200 km, and VS30= 180-1300 m/s. ?? 2008, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Earthquake Spectra↗

USGS2008

Comparisons of shear-wave slowness in the Santa Clara Valley, California using blind interpretations of data from invasive and noninvasive methods

Many groups contributed to a blind interpretation exercise for the determination of shear-wave slowness beneath the Santa Clara Valley. The methods included invasive methods in deep boreholes as well as noninvasive methods using active and passive sources, at six sites within the valley (with most investigations being conducted at a pair of closely spaced sites near the center of the valley). Although significant variability exists between the models, the slownesses from the various methods are similar enough that linear site amplifications estimated in several ways are generally within 20% of one another. The methods were able to derive slownesses that increase systematically with distance from the valley edge, corresponding to a tendency for the sites to be underlain by finer-grained materials away from the valley edge. This variation is in agreement with measurements made in the boreholes at the sites.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2006

Earthquake ground-motion prediction equations for eastern North America

New earthquake ground-motion relations for hard-rock and soil sites in eastern North America (ENA), including estimates of their aleatory uncertainty (variability) have been developed based on a stochastic finite-fault model. The model incorporates new information obtained from ENA seismographic data gathered over the past 10 years, including three-component broadband data that provide new information on ENA source and path effects. Our new prediction equations are similar to the previous ground-motion prediction equations of Atkinson and Boore (1995), which were based on a stochastic point-source model. The main difference is that high-frequency amplitudes (f ??? 5 Hz) are less than previously predicted (by about a factor of 1.6 within 100 km), because of a slightly lower average stress parameter (140 bars versus 180 bars) and a steeper near-source attenuation. At frequencies less than 5 Hz, the predicted ground motions from the new equations are generally within 25% of those predicted by Atkinson and Boore (1995). The prediction equations agree well with available ENA ground-motion data as evidenced by near-zero average residuals (within a factor of 1.2) for all frequencies, and the lack of any significant residual trends with distance. However, there is a tendency to positive residuals for moderate events at high frequencies in the distance range from 30 to 100 km (by as much as a factor of 2). This indicates epistemic uncertainty in the prediction model. The positive residuals for moderate events at < 100 km could be eliminated by an increased stress parameter, at the cost of producing negative residuals in other magnitude-distance ranges; adjustment factors to the equations are provided that may be used to model this effect.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2006

Report of the workshop on Extreme Ground Motions at Yucca Mountain, August 23-25, 2004

This Workshop has its origins in the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) for Yucca Mountain, the designated site of the underground repository for the nation's high-level radioactive waste. In 1998 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Senior Seismic Hazard Analysis Committee (SSHAC) developed guidelines for PSHA which were published as NUREG/CR-6372, 'Recommendations for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis: guidance on uncertainty and the use of experts,' (SSHAC, 1997). This Level-4 study was the most complicated and complex PSHA ever undertaken at the time. The procedures, methods, and results of this PSHA are described in Stepp et al. (2001), mostly in the context of a probability of exceedance (hazard) of 10-4/yr for ground motion at Site A, a hypothetical, reference rock outcrop site at the elevation of the proposed emplacement drifts within the mountain. Analysis and inclusion of both aleatory and epistemic uncertainty were significant and time-consuming aspects of the study, which took place over three years and involved several dozen scientists, engineers, and analysts.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2005

Processing of strong-motion accelerograms: Needs, options and consequences

Recordings from strong-motion accelerographs are of fundamental importance in earthquake engineering, forming the basis for all characterizations of ground shaking employed for seismic design. The recordings, particularly those from analog instruments, invariably contain noise that can mask and distort the ground-motion signal at both high and low frequencies. For any application of recorded accelerograms in engineering seismology or earthquake engineering, it is important to identify the presence of this noise in the digitized time-history and its influence on the parameters that are to be derived from the records. If the parameters of interest are affected by noise then appropriate processing needs to be applied to the records, although it must be accepted from the outset that it is generally not possible to recover the actual ground motion over a wide range of frequencies. There are many schemes available for processing strong-motion data and it is important to be aware of the merits and pitfalls associated with each option. Equally important is to appreciate the effects of the procedures on the records in order to avoid errors in the interpretation and use of the results. Options for processing strong-motion accelerograms are presented, discussed and evaluated from the perspective of engineering application. ?? 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering↗

USGS2005

On pads and filters: Processing strong-motion data

Processing of strong-motion data in many cases can be as straightforward as filtering the acceleration time series and integrating to obtain velocity and displacement. To avoid the introduction of spurious low-frequency noise in quantities derived from the filtered accelerations, however, care must be taken to append zero pads of adequate length to the beginning and end of the segment of recorded data. These padded sections of the filtered acceleration need to be retained when deriving velocities, displacements, Fourier spectra, and response spectra. In addition, these padded and filtered sections should also be included in the time series used in the dynamic analysis of structures and soils to ensure compatibility with the filtered accelerations.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2004

Can site response be predicted?

Large modifications of seismic waves are produced by variations of material properties near the Earth's surface and by both surface and buried topography. These modifications, usually referred to as "site response", in general lead to larger motions on soil sites than on rock-like sites. Because the soil amplifications can be as large as a factor of ten, they are important in engineering applications that require the quantitative specification of ground motions. This has been recognised for years by both seismologists and engineers, and it is hard to open an earthquake journal these days without finding an article on site response. What is often missing in these studies, however, are discussions of the uncertainty of the predicted response. A number of purely observational studies demonstrate that ground motions have large site-to-site variability for a single earthquake and large earthquake-location- dependent variability for a single site. This variability makes site-specific, earthquake-specific predictions of site response quite uncertain, even if detailed geotechnical and geological information is available near the site. Predictions of site response for average classes of sites exposed to the motions from many earthquakes can be made with much greater certainty if sufficient empirical observations are available.

Journal of Earthquake Engineering↗

USGS2004

Comparisons of ground motions from five aftershocks of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake with empirical predictions largely based on data from California

The observed ground motions from five large aftershocks of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake are compared with predictions from four equations based primarily on data from California. The four equations for active tectonic regions are those developed by Abrahamson and Silva (1997), Boore et al. (1997), Campbell (1997, 2001), and Sadigh et al. (1997). Comparisons are made for horizontal-component peak ground accelerations and 5%-damped pseudoacceleration response spectra at periods between 0.02 sec and 5 sec. The observed motions are in reasonable agreement with the predictions, particularly for distances from 10 to 30 km. This is in marked contrast to the motions from the Chi-Chi mainshock, which are much lower than the predicted motions for periods less than about 1 sec. The results indicate that the low motions in the mainshock are not due to unusual, localized absorption of seismic energy, because waves from the mainshock and the aftershocks generally traverse the same section of the crust and are recorded at the same stations. The aftershock motions at distances of 30-60 km are somewhat lower than the predictions (but not nearly by as small a factor as those for the mainshock), suggesting that the ground motion attenuates more rapidly in this region of Taiwan than it does in the areas we compare with it. We provide equations for the regional attenuation of response spectra, which show increasing decay of motion with distance for decreasing oscillator periods. This observational study also demonstrates that ground motions have large earthquake-location-dependent variability for a specific site. This variability reduces the accuracy with which an earthquake-specific prediction of site response can be predicted. Online Material: PGAs and PSAs from the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake and five aftershocks.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2004

Ground motion in Anchorage, Alaska, from the 2002 Denali fault earthquake: Site response and displacement pulses

Data from the 2002 Denali fault earthquake recorded at 26 sites in and near Anchorage, Alaska, show a number of systematic features important in studies of site response and in constructing long-period spectra for use in earthquake engineering. The data demonstrate that National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) site classes are a useful way of grouping stations according to site amplification. In general, the sites underlain by lower shear-wave velocities have higher amplification. The amplification on NEHRP class D sites exceeds a factor of 2 relative to an average of motions on class C sites. The amplifications are period dependent. They are in rough agreement with those from previous studies, but the new data show that the amplifications extend to at least 10 sec, periods longer than considered in previous studies. At periods longer than about 14 sec, all sites have motion of similar amplitude, and the ground displacements are similar in shape, polarization, and amplitude for all stations. The displacement ground motion is dominated by a series of four pulses, which are associated with the three subevents identified in inversion studies (the first pulse is composed of P waves from the first subevent). Most of the high-frequency ground motion is associated with the S waves from subevent 1. The pulses from subevents 1 and 2, with moment releases corresponding to M 7.1 and 7.0, are similar to the pulse of displacement radiated by the M 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake. The signature from the largest subevent (M 7.6) is more subdued than those from the first two subevents. The two largest pulses produce response spectra with peaks at a period of about 15 sec. The spectral shape at long periods is in good agreement with the recent 2003 NEHRP code spectra but is in poor agreement with the shape obtained from Eurocode 8.

Alaska↗

USGS2003

Effect of causal and acausal filters on elastic and inelastic response spectra

With increasing interest in displacement spectra and long-period motions, it is important to check the sensitivity of both elastic and inelastic response spectra to the filtering that is often necessary to remove long period artifacts, even from many modern digital recordings. Using two records of very different character from the M=7.1, 1999 Hector Mine, California, earthquake, we find that the response spectra can be sensitive to the corner periods used in causal filtering, even for oscillator periods much less than the filter corner periods. The effect is most pronounced for inelastic response spectra, where the ratio of response spectra computed from accelerations filtered at 25 and 200 sec can be close to a factor of 2 for oscillator periods less than 5 sec. Published in 2003 by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics↗

USGS2003

Some observations on colocated and closely spaced strong ground-motion records of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake

The digital accelerograph network installed in Taiwan produced a rich set of records from the 20 September 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake (Mw 7.6). Teledyne Geotech model A-800 and A-900A* digital accelerographs were colocated at 22 stations that recorded this event. Comparisons of the amplitudes, frequency content, and baseline offsets show that records from several of the A-800 accelerographs are considerably different than those from the colocated A-900A accelerographs. On this basis, and in view of the more thorough predeployment testing of the newer A-900A instruments, we recommend that the records from the A-800 instruments be used with caution in analyses of the mainshock and aftershocks. At the Hualien seismic station two A-900A and one A-800 instruments were colocated, along with a Global Positioning System instrument. Although the records from the two A-900A instruments are much more similar than those from a colocated A-800 instrument, both three-component records contain unpredictable baseline offsets, which produced completely unrealistic ground displacements derived from the accelerations by double integration, as do many of the strong-motion data from this event; the details of the baseline offsets differ considerably on the two three-component records. There are probably numerous sources of the baseline offsets, including sources external to the instruments, such as tilting or rotation of the ground, and sources internal to the instruments, such as electrical or mechanical hysteresis in the sensors. For the two colocated A-900A records at the Hualien seismic station, however, the differences in the baseline offsets suggest that the principal source is some transient disturbance within the instrument. The baseline offsets generally manifest themselves in the acceleration time series as pulses or steps, either singly or in combination. We find a 0.015-Hz low-cut filter can almost completely eliminate the effects of the baseline offsets, but then information regarding the permanent displacements is lost. The causative mechanisms of the baseline offsets are unknown presently. Hence, it is very difficult to recover the permanent displacements from the modern digital records, although for records close to large earthquakes, the signal-to-noise ratio should theoretically be adequate to obtain ground motions with periods of hundreds of seconds. This study reinforces our conclusion from previous studies that the sources of baseline offsets occurring in digital strong-motion records are very complex and often unpredictable, and that, therefore, it is difficult to remove the baseline effects to maximize the information content of the record. The baseline offsets only affect very long period motions (e.g., >20 sec), however, and therefore are of little or no engineering concern.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2003

Empirical ground-motion relations for subduction-zone earthquakes and their application to Cascadia and other regions

Ground-motion relations for earthquakes that occur in subduction zones are an important input to seismic-hazard analyses in many parts of the world. In the Cascadia region (Washington, Oregon, northern California, and British Columbia), for example, there is a significant hazard from megathrust earthquakes along the subduction interface and from large events within the subducting slab. These hazards are in addition to the hazard from shallow earthquakes in the overlying crust. We have compiled a response spectra database from thousands of strong-motion recordings from events of moment magnitude ( M ) 5-8.3 occurring in subduction zones around the world, including both interface and in-slab events. The 2001 M 6.8 Nisqually and 1999 M 5.9 Satsop earthquakes are included in the database, as are many records from subduction zones in Japan (Kyoshin-Net data), Mexico (Guerrero data), and Central America. The size of the database is four times larger than that available for previous empirical regressions to determine ground-motion relations for subduction-zone earthquakes. The large dataset enables improved determination of attenuation parameters and magnitude scaling, for both interface and in-slab events. Soil response parameters are also better determined by the data.

British Columbia, California, Oregon, Washington↗

USGS2003

Phase derivatives and simulation of strong ground motions

Phase derivatives can be used to compute instantaneous frequency and envelope delay (also known as group delay). Envelope delay, in the guise of phase differences, has been used by engineers in the simulation of strong ground motion , particularly as a way of controlling the duration of motion . Simulations using the stochastic method, in which duration is a simple function of source duration and a path-dependent duration, possess envelope delay properties similar to those from simulations based on phase differences. Envelope delay provides a way of extending the standard stochastic method to produce nonstationary frequency content, as produced by ground motions containing surface waves.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗