Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Site response in the Qionghai Basin in the Wenchuan earthquake

  • Special Section: Lessons Learned from the Wenchuan Earthquake
  • Published:
Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Amplification effects of soil site response can significantly impact ground motions, and must be considered in the seismic fortification of buildings/structures to prevent or mitigate this potential seismic hazard. Utilizing acceleration time histories from the main shock of the Wenchuan earthquake recorded at four stations (i.e., one on bedrock and three on soil) in the Qionghai Basin, the site responses from three soil sites are studied by using the traditional spectral ratio method. The bedrock site is selected as a reference site. This study found that peak ground accelerations (PGAs) on the soil sites are much larger than on bedrock, with EW, NS and UD components of 3.96–6.58, 6.27–10.98, and 3.17–6.66 times those of the bedrock site, respectively. The amplification effects of the soil sites on ground motions in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz are significant, depending on the thickness of the soil layer and the frequency content of the site. A significant amplification occurs with high frequency components of ground motion at shallow soil sites, and low and high frequency components of ground motion at intermediate soil sites.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews DJ (1986), “Objective Determination of Source Parameters and Similarity of Earthquakes of Different Size,” Earthquake Source Mechanics, Das S, Boatwright J, and Scholz CH (eds.), American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C., 259–268.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson GM and Cassidy JF (2000), “Integrated Use of Seismograph and Strong-motion Data to Determine Soil Amplification: Response of the Fraser River Delta to the Duvall and Georgia Strait Earthquake,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 90(4): 1028–1040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla LF, Steidl JH, Lindley GT, Tumarkin AG, and Archuleta RJ (1997), “Site Amplification in the San Fernando Valley, California: Variability of Site-Effect Estimation Using the S-wave, Coda, and H/V Methods,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 87(3): 710–730.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borcherdt RD (1970), “Effects of Local Geology on Ground Motion near San Francisco Bay,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 60(1): 29–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field EH and Jacob KH (1995), “A Comparison and Test of Various Site-response Estimation Techniques, Including Three that Are not Reference-site Dependent,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 85(4): 1127–1143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang ZX (2005), “Urgent Measures and Its Social Effect for Three Earthquakes in Ming and Qing Dynasty,” Earthquake Research in Sichuan, 2: 6–12. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lermo J and Chávez-García FJ (1993), “Site Effect Evaluation Using Spectral Ratios with Only One Station,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 83(5): 1574–1594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malagnini L, Mayeda K, Akinci A et al. (2004), “Estimating Absolute Site Effects,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 94(4): 576–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuda K, Koketsu K, Hisada Y and Hayakawa T (2010), “Inversion Analysis of Site Responses in the Kanto Basin Using Data from a Dense Strong Motion Seismograph Array,” Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 100(3): 1276–1287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HY (2011), “Amplification Effects of Soil Sites on Ground Motions in the Weihe Basin,” Chinese J. Geophys., 54(1): 137–150. (in Chinese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wen XZ and Wu DZ (1985), “Origin of the Quaternary Qionghai Basin, Xichang, Sichuan Province,” Geological Review, 31(4): 360–366. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YJ, Qiao HZ, Cheng WZ et al. (2007), “Attenuation Characteristics of the Media in Sichuan Basin Region,” Journal of Seismological Research, 30(1): 43–48. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou XY, Wang GJ and Su JY (1991), Site, Foundation, Design Earthquake, Beijing: Earthquake Publishing House (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin, 150080, China

    Haiyun Wang, Lili Xie, Suyang Wang & Peng Ye

  2. Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin, 150080, China

    Haiyun Wang

Authors
  1. Haiyun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lili Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Suyang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peng Ye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haiyun Wang.

Additional information

Supported by: International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China under Grant No. 2011DFA71100; National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 50878199; National Basic Research Program of China under Grant No. 2007CB714201

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, H., Xie, L., Wang, S. et al. Site response in the Qionghai Basin in the Wenchuan earthquake. Earthq. Eng. Eng. Vib. 12, 195–199 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11803-013-0162-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11803-013-0162-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation