• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.663-674
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• 2015

Many seismically vulnerable regions in India and worldwide are located on deep soil deposits which extend to several hundred meters of depth. It has been well recognized that the earthquake shaking is altered by geological conditions at the location of building. As seismic waves propagates through uppermost layers of soil and rock, these layers serve as filter and they can increase the duration and amplitude of earthquake motion within narrow frequency bands. The amplification of these waves is largely controlled by mechanical properties of these layers, which are function of their stiffness and damping. Stiffness and damping are further influenced by soil type and thickness. In the current study, an attempt has been made to study the seismic site response of deep soils. Three hypothetical homogeneous soil models (e.g., soft soil, medium soil and hard soil) lying on bedrock are considered. Depth of half space is varied from 30 m to 2,000 m in this study. Controlled synthetic motions are used as input base motion. One dimensional equivalent linear ground response analyses are carried out using a computer package DEEPSOIL. Conventional approach of analysing up to 30 m depth has been found to be inadequate for deep soil sites. PGA values are observed to be higher for deeper soil profiles as compared to shallow soil profiles indicating that deeper soil profiles are more prone to liquefaction and other related seismic hazards under earthquake ground shaking. The study recommends to deal the deeper soil sections more carefully for estimating the amplification factors for seismic hazard assessment at the surface.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2007

For areas such as the Korean Peninsula, which have moderate seismic activity but no available records of strong ground motion, synthetic seismograms can be used to evaluate ground motion without waiting for a strong earthquake. Such seismograms represent the estimated ground motions expected from a set of possible earthquake scenarios. Local site effects are especially important in assessing the seismic hazard and possible ground motion scenarios for a specific fault. The earthquake source and rupture dynamics can be described as a two-step process of rupture initiation and front propagation controlled by a frictional sliding mechanism. The seismic wavefield propagates through heterogeneous geological media and finally undergoes near-surface modulations such as amplification or deamplification. This is a complex system in which various scales of physical phenomena are integrated. A unified approach incorporates multi-scale problems of dynamic rupture, radiated wave propagation, and site effects into an all-in-one model using a three-dimensional, fourth-order, staggered-grid, finite-difference method. The method explains strong ground motions as products of complex systems that can be modified according to a variety of fine-scale rupture scenarios and friction models. A series of such deterministic earthquake scenarios can shed light on the kind of damage that would result and where it would be located.