Skip to main content
Log in

Complex Site Effects in Thessaloniki (Greece): I. Soil Structure and Comparison of Observations with 1D Analysis

  • General paper
  • Published:
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents a 2D model of the geological structure of Thessaloniki city and results of empirical and theoretical approaches for the evaluation of site response due to complex site effects. The construction of the 2D model is based on the available geophysical and geotechnical data in terms of the most important parameters needed to model site response. The well-known subsoil structure, despite the existence of some local uncertainties, gave the possibility to correlate the geometry and the dynamic properties of the 2D model with the results of site response determined from the analysis of one event in frequency and time domains and 1D numerical modelling. The study of site response shows the effect of the lateral variations on ground motion and suggests that the contribution of locally generated surface waves to the resonant peak may be important. In this case history, the limitations of the 1D approximation to simulate ground motion under complex soil conditions in both frequency and time domains are also shown. This paper lays the ground for a companion article dealing with 2D site effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aki, K. (1988) Local site effects on strong ground motion. In J.L. VonThun (ed.), Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics II – Recent Advances in Ground Motion Evaluation, Park City, Utah, June 27--30, pp. 103–155.

  • K. Aki (1993) ArticleTitleLocal site effects on weak and strong ground motion Tectonophysics 218 93–111

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Anastasiadis D. Raptakis K. Pitilakis (2001) ArticleTitleThessaloniki’s detailed microzoning: subsurface structure as basis of site response analysis Pure and Applied Geophysics 158 IssueID11 2597–2533

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Apostolidis D. Raptakis Z. Roumelioti K. Pitilakis (2004) ArticleTitleDetermination of S-wave velocity structure using microtremors and SPAC method applied in thessaloniki (Greece) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 24 IssueID1 49–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Bard, P.Y. (1994) Effects of surface geology on ground motion: recent results and remaining issues. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 1, 305–323. Vienna, Austria.

  • P.-Y. Bard M. Bouchon (1980a) ArticleTitleThe seismic response of sediment-filled valleys. Part 1. The case of incident SH waves Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 70 1263–1286

    Google Scholar 

  • P.-Y. Bard M. Bouchon (1980b) ArticleTitleThe seismic response of sediment-filled valleys. Part 2. The case of incident P and SV waves Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 70 1921–1941

    Google Scholar 

  • P.-Y. Bard M. Bouchon (1985) ArticleTitleThe two-dimensional resonance of sediment filled valleys Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 75 519–541

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Beauval P.-Y. Bard P. Moczo J. Kristek (2003) ArticleTitleQuantification of frequency-dependent lengthening of seismic ground-motion duration due to local geology: applications to the volvi area (Greece) Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 93 IssueID1 371–385

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Bouchon J.S. Barker (1996) ArticleTitleSeismic response of a hill: the example of Tarzana, California Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 66–72

    Google Scholar 

  • F.J. Chávez-García W.R. Stephenson M. Rodriguez (1999) ArticleTitleLateral propagation effects observed at Parkway, New Zealand: a case history to compare 1D versus 2D side effects Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89 IssueID3 718–732

    Google Scholar 

  • F.J. Chávez-García E. Faccioli (2000) ArticleTitleComplex site effects and building codes: making the leap Journal of Seismology 4 23–40

    Google Scholar 

  • F.J. Chávez-García D. Raptakis K. Makra K. Pitilakis (2000) ArticleTitleSite effects at Euroseistest-II. Results from 2D numerical modeling and comparison with observations Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 19 IssueID1 23–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Faccioli, E., Paolucci, R. and Chávez-García, F.J. (1998) Recent ESG studies in Europe – An outline of some potentially innovative applications. In K. Irikura, K. Kudo, H. Okada and T. Sasatani, (eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium, “The effects of Surface Geology on Ground Motion” Vol. 1, 147--160. A.A. Balkema publishers.

  • E.H. Field (1996) ArticleTitleSpectral amplification in a sediment filled valley exhibiting clear basin-edge-induced waves Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 991–1005

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrmann, R. (1987) Computer Programs in Seismology, Vol. III, St.Louis University, USA.

  • D. Jongmans K. Pitilakis D. Demanet D. Raptakis J. Riepl C. Horrent G. Tsokas K. Lontzetidis P.-Y. Bard (1998) ArticleTitleEURO-SEISTEST: determination of the geological structure of the Volvi graben and validation of the basin response Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88 473–487

    Google Scholar 

  • B.L.N. Kennett (1983) Seismic Wave Propagation in Stratified Media Cambridge University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Lachet D. Hatzfeld P.-Y. Bard N. Theodulidis C. Papaioannou A. Savvaidis (1996) ArticleTitleSite effects and microzonation in the city of Thessaloniki (Greece). Comparison of different approaches Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 1692–1703

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Malagnini P. Tricarico R.B. Herrmann S. Opice G. Biella R. de Franco (1996) ArticleTitleExplosion, earthquake and ambient noise recordings in a Pliocene sediment-filled valley: inferences on seismic response properties by reference- and non-reference-sites techniques Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 670–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Makra, K. (2000) Contribution to the evaluation of site response for complex soil structure (Euroseistest valley) using experimental and theoretical approaches. PhD thesis (in Greek), Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

  • K. Makra D. Raptakis F.J. Chávez-García K. Pitilakis (2001) ArticleTitleSite effects and design provisions: the case of Euroseistest Pure and Applied Geophysics 158 IssueID11 2349–2367

    Google Scholar 

  • J.L. Mercier N. Mouyaris C. Simeakis T. Roundoyannis C.H. Angelidhis (1983) ArticleTitleStructural analysis of the recent and active faults and regional state of stress in the epicentral area of the 1978 Thessaloniki earthquakes (northern Greece) Tectonics 2 577–600 Occurrence Handle10.1029/TC002i006p00577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Moczo P.-Y. Bard (1993) ArticleTitleWave diffraction, amplification and differential motion near strong lateral discontinuities Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 83 85–106

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Moczo P. Labák J. Kristek F. Hron (1996) ArticleTitleAmplification and differential motion due to an antiplane 2D resonance in the sediment valleys embedded in a layer over the halfspace Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 1434–1446

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountrakis, D., Psilovikos, A. and Papazachos, B.C. (1983) The geotectonic region of the 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake, In: B.C. Papazachos and P.G. Carydis (eds), The Thesaloniki Northern Greece Earthquake of June 20, 1978 and its Seismic Sequence, pp. 11–27.

  • K.B. Olsen R.J. Archuleta (1996) ArticleTitle3-D simulation of earthquakes on the Los Angeles fault system Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 575–596

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Pitarka D. Suetsugu H. Takenaka (1996) ArticleTitleElastic finite-difference modeling of strong motion in Ashigara valley for the 1990 Odawara, Japan, earthquake Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 981–990

    Google Scholar 

  • K. Pitilakis D. Raptakis K. Lontzetidis Th. Tika-Vassilikou D. Jongmans (1999) ArticleTitleGeotechnical and geophysical description of EURO-SEISTEST, using field, laboratory tests and moderate strong motion recordings Journal of Earthquake Engineering 3 IssueID3 381–409

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Raptakis A. Anastasiadis K. Pitilakis K. Lontzetidis (1994a) ArticleTitleShear wave velocities and damping of Greek natural soils. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering 1 477–482

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Raptakis E. Karaolani K. Pitilakis N. Theodulidis (1994b) ArticleTitleHorizontal to vertical spectral ratio and site effects: the case of a downhole array in Thessaloniki (Greece) Proc. of XXIV Gen. Ass 3 1570–1578

    Google Scholar 

  • Raptakis, D. (1995) Contribution to the determination of the geometry and the dynamic characteristics of soil formations and their seismic response. PhD thesis (in Greek), Deptartment of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

  • D. Raptakis K. Lontzetidis K. Pitilakis (1996) ArticleTitleSurface waves inversion method: a reliable method for the in situ measurements of shear wave velocity Proc. 4eme Colloque Nationale de Genie Parasismique et Aspects Vibratoires dans le Genie Civil 1 160–169

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Raptakis N. Theodulidis K. Pitilakis (1998) ArticleTitleData analysis of the Euroseistest strong motion array in Volvi (Greece): standard and horizontal to vertical ratio techniques Earthquake Spectra 14 203–224

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Raptakis F.J. Chávez-García K. Makra K. Pitilakis (2000) ArticleTitleSite effects at Euroseistest - I: determination of the valley structure and confrontation of observations with 1D analysis Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 19 IssueID1 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Raptakis, D., Makra, K., Anastasiadis, A. and Pitilakis, K. (2004) Complex site effects in Thessaloniki (Greece). II. 2D SH Modeling and engineering insights (this issue).

  • J. Riepl P.-Y. Bard C. Papaioannou S. Nechtschein (1998) ArticleTitleDetailed evaluation of site response estimation methods across and along the sedimentary valley of Volvi (EUROSEISTEST) Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88 488–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Scordilis, E.M., Karakostas, B.G., Papaioannou, C.H.A. and Papazachos, B.C. (1992) Seismic Sources Affecting the City of Thessaloniki, Vol. 10, pp. 1–26. Publ. Lab. of Geoph, AUTh.

  • Sherif, M.A. (1973) Microzonation of Thessaloniki, using the Sherif-Bostrom (USA) Method. Prepared for UNDP/UNESCO Survery of the Seismicity of the Balkan Region, August 26, 1973, Seattle, Washingtion, USA.

  • J.H. Stiedl A.G. Tumarkin R.J. Archuleta (1996) ArticleTitleWhat is a reference site? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 1733–1748

    Google Scholar 

  • Tika, Th.M., Kallioglou, P.A., Sturaitis, E.K., Raptakis, D.G. and Pitilakis, K.D. (2001). Deformation Characteristics of Natural Soils from the City of Thessaloniki., Proc. XV ICSMGE, August 25, 2001, pp. 283–387. Istanbul, Turkey.

  • P. Triantafyllidis P. Hatzidimitriou N. Theodulidis P. Suhadolc C. Papazachos D. Raptakis K. Lontzetidis (1999) ArticleTitleSite effects in the city of Thessaloniki (Greece) estimated from acceleration data and 1-D local soil profiles Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89 IssueID2 521–537

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Zhang A.S. Papageorgiou (1996) ArticleTitleSimulation of the response of the Marina District Basin, San Francisco, California, to 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86 IssueID5 382–400

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dimitrios Raptakis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Raptakis, D., Makra, K., Anastasiadis, A. et al. Complex Site Effects in Thessaloniki (Greece): I. Soil Structure and Comparison of Observations with 1D Analysis. Bull Earthquake Eng 2, 271–290 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-004-3799-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-004-3799-6

Keywords

Navigation