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1D velocity structure of the Po River plain (Northern Italy) assessed by combining strong motion and ambient noise data

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Abstract

Strong ground motions recorded on the sedimentary deposits of the Po River alluvial plain during the Emilia (Northern Italy) Mw 5.7 earthquake of May 29, 2012 are used to assess the vertical profile of shear-wave velocity above the limestone basement. Data were collected by a linear array installed for site effect studies after the Mw 5.9 mainshock of May 20, 2012. The array stations, equipped with both strong and weak motion sensors, are aligned in the South–North direction, at distances ranging from 1 to 26 km from the epicenter. The vertical components of ground motion show very distinctive, large-amplitude, low-frequency dispersive wave trains. Wavelet analysis yields group-velocity dispersion curve in the 0.2–0.7 Hz frequency band. The availability of a long ambient noise record allows estimates of the site resonance frequency along with its stability among stations. The joint inversion of dispersion of surface waves and ellipticity curves derived from ambient noise H/V allows extending investigations down to the sediment-limestone interface, at a depth of about 5,000 m. Our results add new information about the velocity structure at a scale that is intermediate between the local scale already investigated by other authors with small-aperture arrays using ambient noise and the regional scale inferred from modeling of seismogram waveforms recorded at hundreds of kilometers from the source.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Rocco Cogliano, Antonio Fodarella, Stefania Pucillo and Gaetano Riccio, INGV Grottaminarda research center, for helping in the field activities and during data retrieval and formatting. Luca Martelli, from “Regione Emilia Romagna”, offered fruitful food for thought about the geology of the area. A final thank to the Emilia people that always supported us during the field activity despite post event hard times.

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Author notes

  1. Salomon Hailemikael

    Present address: ENEA, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 , S. Maria di Galeria, Rome, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 , Rome, Italy

    Giuliano Milana, Paola Bordoni, Fabrizio Cara & Antonio Rovelli

  2. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via Arcivescovado 8, 67100 , L’Aquila, Italy

    Giuseppe Di Giulio & Salomon Hailemikael

Authors
  1. Giuliano Milana
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  2. Paola Bordoni
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  4. Giuseppe Di Giulio
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  5. Salomon Hailemikael
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Correspondence to Giuliano Milana.

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Milana, G., Bordoni, P., Cara, F. et al. 1D velocity structure of the Po River plain (Northern Italy) assessed by combining strong motion and ambient noise data. Bull Earthquake Eng 12, 2195–2209 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9483-y

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