Abstract
The average shear wave velocity for a soil depth of 30 m (VS30) is crucial for seismic hazard assessments. However, VS30 measurements are not available at most recording stations in Korea. The P-wave seismogram method is an efficient way to estimate VS30 because it only utilizes P-wave seismograms recorded on the ground surface without boring process. VS30 measurements for 51 recording stations are acquired from previous literature, and downhole tests were performed at 10 stations for additional VS30 measurements. The P-wave seismogram method is validated for 50 stations using 359 seismograms recorded during 66 earthquake events with local magnitudes greater than 3.0. The average shear wave velocity for a certain depth (VSZ) can be estimated using the ratio of radial to vertical components in the initial P-wave velocity seismograms, which can be converted to VS30 using an empirical relationship. The residuals between the measured and estimated VS30 are divided into the overall bias, between-site residuals, and within-site residuals. The standard deviation for between-site residuals is 0.37, which is comparable with the values of previous studies for other countries. After bias correction, 70% of measured VS30 and estimated VS30 are within ±50% of each other. This study estimates VS30 values for 118 stations where VS30 is not available.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the KMA Research Development Program (KMI2018-02810-2) and the Basic Research Project of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM). The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that helped improve the manuscript.
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Kim, J., Kim, B. & Cho, H. Shear Wave Velocity Estimation in Korea Using P-Wave Seismograms. KSCE J Civ Eng 24, 3650–3658 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-020-0752-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-020-0752-4