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The 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal and its aftershocks: analysis of strong ground motion

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Abstract

Various aspects of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks are presented, and different hypotheses about the nature of long period pulses observed in ground motion record in Kathmandu Valley are critically discussed and reviewed. The frequency-size distribution of aftershocks, as well as the temporal distribution within one year of the mainshock is discussed. Some interesting features of the strong ground motion of the mainshock recorded at different places in Kathmandu Valley are discussed. Although the root-mean-square horizontal ground accelerations recorded at rock and soft sites were similar, the peak accelerations varied significantly. Elastic response spectra of the mainshock near the centre of the Valley (KATNP station operated by USGS) contained two very distinct peaks: a narrower and larger peak at ~0.4 s and a smaller, but very wide, peak at ~5 s. The peak of the spectra was significantly larger than what is commonly adopted in design codes. The latest published uniform hazard spectra for a 475-year return period were found to significantly over-estimate seismic demands on stiff structures (fundamental period less than ~0.5 s,) and underestimate the demands on more flexible structures. The resonant site frequencies computed from microseismic recordings, as reported in published literature, are found to be much larger than what was observed in the spectral ratio of ground motion recorded in soft sediments and exposed bedrock in Kathmandu. Response spectra of aftershock motions recorded at two stations lacked the peculiar peak at 5 s observed in the spectra of mainshock motion. The relatively high Fourier spectral amplitudes (at frequencies near 0.2–0.3 Hz) of ground acceleration recorded at the rock site indicate that the long-period pulse prominent at the soft site was not entirely due to site effects. The polarization pattern of the 5 s pulse at the rock site and at soft site KATNP were found to be very different. Comparison of polarization patterns of mainshock ground motion at rock and soft sites indicate that the 5 s pulse observed at some locations in Kathmandu Valley is a combination of shear waves (the amplitudes of which were amplified by the basin layers) and Love waves.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support from the University of Iceland research fund, and the national power company of Iceland, Landsvirkjun. We also acknowledge California Earthquake Strong-Motion Database (CESMD) for distributing ground motion records at KATNP, and Kanai et al. (2016) for distributing mainshock ground motion data at four stations in Kathmandu Valley. Puja Acharya assisted in preparing the maps presented in this article. Late Professor Ragnar Sigbjörnsson encouraged and supported our effort to install accelerometers in Kathmandu Valley. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and constructive feedback.

Author contributions

RR performed data processing and analysis, and drafted the manuscript. RR and SO travelled to Nepal after the Gorkha Earthquake and installed the strong motion instrument at TYANG. BH prepared and configured the strong motion instrument and helped with data retrieval. SO participated in processing and organization of raw data. All the authors contributed in finalizing the manuscript.

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  1. Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of Iceland, Austurvegur 2a, 800, Selfoss, Iceland

    R. Rupakhety, S. Olafsson & B. Halldorsson

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  1. R. Rupakhety
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Correspondence to R. Rupakhety.

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Rupakhety, R., Olafsson, S. & Halldorsson, B. The 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal and its aftershocks: analysis of strong ground motion. Bull Earthquake Eng 15, 2587–2616 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-017-0084-z

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