• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2009

It is necessary to consider the site amplification for estimating SSI (soil structure interaction) and seismic source with more confidence. The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique in spectral domain is one of several techniques to estimate empirical site transfer function. The technique, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), is applied to analyze the surface waves in the microtremor records. However, the application of this technique has been widened to the shear wave energy of strong motions for estimating site amplification. The purpose of this paper is to estimate spectral ratio using observed data at the seismic stations distributed within Southern Korean Peninsula from the Fukuoka earthquake including 11 aftershocks. The results show that each station has the its own characteristics of the specific resonance, high-band, and low-band frequency. The characteristics of the resonance frequency is more important because the quality of the seismic records are dependent on the resonance frequency. The result can be used for the study of site classification and removal of the site amplification effects from observed records can give us more reliable seismic source parameters.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.632-642
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• 2015

Seismograms are composed of 3 characteristics, that is, seismic source, attenuation, and site amplification. Among them, site amplification characteristics should be considered significantly to estimate seismic source and attenuation characteristics with more confidence. This purpose of this study is to estimate the site amplification characteristics at each site using horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio method. This method, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), has been applied to study the surface waves in microtremor records. It has been recently extended to the shear wave energy of strong motion and applied to the study of site amplification. This study analyzed the H/V spectral ratio of 6 ground motions respectively using observed data from 4 sites nearby in Yedang Reservoir. And then, site amplification effects at each site, from 3 kinds of seismic energies, that is, S waves, Coda waves energy, and background noise were compared each other. The results suggested that 4 sites showed its own characteristics of site amplification property in specific resonance frequency ranges (YDS: ~11 Hz, YDU: ~4 Hz, YDD: ~7 Hz). Comparison of this study to other studies using different analysis method can give us much more information about dynamic amplification of domestic sites characteristics and site classification.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.432-439
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• 2009

For more reliable estimation of seismic source, attenuation properties and dynamic ground property, site amplification function should be considered. Among various estimation methods, this study used the Nakamura's method (1989) for estimating site amplification characteristics. This method was originally applied to the surface waves of background noise and therefore there are some limitations in applying to general wave energy. However, recently this method has been extended and applied to the S wave energy successfully. This study applied the method to S wave and Coda wave energy, which is equivalent to the backscattered S wave energy. We used more than 60 observed ground motions from 5 earthquakes which were occurred recently, with magnitude range from 3.6 to 5.1. Each station showed characteristic site amplification property in low-, high- and resonance frequencies. Some of the stations showed as high as 4 times of site amplification in the range of specific frequencies, which may imply abnormal small scale geologic strata below the station or development of various trapped modes in the basin structure. Moreover, removal of site amplification can give us more reliable seismic source and attenuation parameters, addition to the seismic hazard estimation.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2009

Site amplification should be considered in order to estimate Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI), seismic source and attenuation parameters with a greater degree of reliability. The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique, originally proposed by Nakamura (1989), has been applied to analyze the surface waves in microtremor records. Recently, its application has been extended to the shear wave energy of strong motion in order to study the site transfer function. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the H/V spectral ratio using the observed data from 9 seismic stations distributed within the Southern Korean Peninsula, from the Odesan earthquake (2007/01/20). The results show that most of the stations have more stable amplification characteristics in a low frequency band than in a high frequency band. However, each seismic station showed its own characteristic resonant frequency and low and high frequency. The resonant frequency at each station should be estimated carefully, because the quality of seismic data is dependent on the resonant frequency. It can be obtained more reliable results of seismic source and attenuation parameters, if seismic ground motions which deconvolved from site transfer function is used. The site amplification data from this study can be used to generally classify the sites within the Southern Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-60
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• 2007

Conventional active surface wave measurements performed using a transient or continuous source are often limited in the maximum depth of penetration due to the difficulty of generating low-frequency energy with reasonably portable sources. This limitation may inhibit accurate seismic site response calculations because of the inability to define deeper subsurface structure. By measuring surface wave generated by passive sources including microtremors and cultural noise, it is possible to overcome this problem and develop soil stiffness profiles to much larger depth. Reliability of dispersion estimates from the passive surface wave measurements is critical to present reliable shear wave velocity profiles and can be improved by the measurements and analyses of passive surface waves based on correct understanding of systematic errors included in passive dispersion data. In this study, the systematic errors caused by poor wavenumber resolution and energy leakage into sidelobes in passive tests are mainly explored. Recommendations for reliable passive surface wave measurements and dispersion estimates are presented and illustrated at a site in San Jose, California, U.S.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-142
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• 2009

The Tamar rift valley runs through the City of Launceston, Tasmania. Damage has occurred to city buildings due to earthquake activity in Bass Strait. The presence of the ancient valley, the Tamar valley, in-filled with soft sediments that vary rapidly in thickness from 0 to 250mover a few hundreds metres, is thought to induce a 2D resonance pattern, amplifying the surface motions over the valley and in Launceston. Spatially averaged coherency (SPAC), frequency-wavenumber (FK) and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio (HVSR) microtremor survey methods are combined to identify and characterise site effects over the Tamar valley. Passive seismic array measurements acquired at seven selected sites were analysed with SPAC to estimate shear wave velocity (slowness) depth profiles. SPAC was then combined with HVSR to improve the resolution of these profiles in the sediments to an approximate depth of 125 m. Results show that sediments thicknesses vary significantly throughout Launceston. The top layer is composed of as much as 20m of very soft Quaternary alluvial sediments with a velocity from 50 m/s to 125 m/s. Shear-wave velocities in the deeper Tertiary sediment fill of the Tamar valley, with thicknesses from 0 to 250m vary from 400 m/s to 750 m/s. Results obtained using SPAC are presented at two selected sites (GUN and KPK) that agree well with dispersion curves interpreted with FK analysis. FK interpretation is, however, limited to a narrower range of frequencies than SPAC and seems to overestimate the shear wave velocity at lower frequencies. Observed HVSR are also compared with the results obtained by SPAC, assuming a layered earth model, and provide additional constraints on the shear wave slowness profiles at these sites. The combined SPAC and HVSR analysis confirms the hypothesis of a layered geology at the GUN site and indicates the presence of a 2D resonance pattern across the Tamar valley at the KPK site.