Abstract
Ground motion amplification induced by topography plays a vital role in engineering seismology. A topographic array of 8 accelerographs has been operating along the ridge in Xishan Park since 2007. The topographic site effects in Zigong city are studied based on the strong motion data of 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake (the epicentral distance = 225 km) and 2019 Ms 5.2 Zizhong earthquake (the epicentral distance = 29 km). We compare the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the two earthquakes and find that the PGA of Station 7#, which locates on a relatively steep slope, is amplified by 4.41 times comparing with the reference station in Zizhong earthquake, while this value is only 1.62 in Wenchuan earthquake. Fourier amplitude spectrum shows that the high frequency content of Zizhong earthquake is more abundant because of its smaller epicentral distance. By using the standard spectral ratio (SSR) method, we conclude that the amplification occurs because high-frequency ground motion is likely to resonate at small-scale features. Finally, the 3D numerical simulations are used to verify these conclusions. Our work indicates that more sophisticated numerical models need to be established for more accurate topographic site effects quantification. In addition, the influence of nearby topographic features should be considered when selecting reference stations.
Highlights
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PGA value tends to increase with elevation of the ridge and reaches maximum at the crest or its vicinity.
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Ground motion is amplified at the slope crest and de-amplified at the bottom.
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3D numerical simulation indicates that high-frequency ground motions are likely to resonate on small-scale features.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Sichuan Earthquake Administration for supporting on-site investigation.
Funding
Strong motion data for this study were provided by China Strong Motion Network Centre at the Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration; DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data were provided by NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) (https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov). This research was funded by Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration (2016A03), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1500802), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 5150082083, U2039209).
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Ma, Q., Wang, F., Tao, D. et al. Topographic site effects of Xishan Park ridge in Zigong city, Sichuan considering epicentral distance. J Seismol 25, 1537–1555 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-021-10048-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-021-10048-7