INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS, CHENNAI

Department of Civil Engineering

CE 6310 Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering

Assignment # 2: Strong Ground Motion: Parameters and Estimation

Note: Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.

1. (a) Explain the basic factors affecting the intensity of strong ground shaking.
(b) Write a note on ‘Baseline correction’. Study the following programs: (i)
Seismosignal, (ii) Seismomatch, (iii) Opensignal, and (iv) Seismosoft.
2. Define the following: (a) Duration of strong shaking, (b) Magnitude of earthquake,
(c) Strong ground motion, (d) PGA, (e) PHA, and (f) Time-history.
3. Describe the effects of earthquakes on structures. How do we consider these
effects in building design?

4. For the given acceleration time-history of El-Centro earthquake ground motion (N-
S component, Fig. 1, Data file is EL.DAT), obtain the velocity-time history and
displacement-time history using numerical analysis procedure and also obtain the
Fourier amplitude spectrum for the above acceleration-time history (MATLAB or
EDU-SHAKE may be used).

0.3

0.2

0.1
Acceleration (g)

0.0

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3
Maximum Acceleration = 0.32 g
-0.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time (sec)

Fig. 1 Acceleration time-history of El-Centro earthquake ground motion (N-S

component)

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5. Plot the Power Spectral Density (PSD) Function (also called as Power
Spectrum) using Kanai-Tajimi Spectra of ground motion. Plot two different
graphs: one for horizontal acceleration and one for vertical acceleration for the
cases of Alluvium, Alluvium on Rock and Rock.

6. A site in Chennai is located 15 km from Fault A and 35 km from Fault B. These

two faults have maximum probable earthquake magnitudes, M W of 6.5 and 7.5
respectively. The site is underlain by a deep deposit of soil that has a shear wave
velocity of 700 m/s. Using the Boore et al. (1993) attenuation relationship,
compute the peak horizontal acceleration at the ground surface for both
earthquakes, then select the value to be used for design.

7. Determine and plot the variations of peak horizontal acceleration with distance for
a M W = 6.5 earthquake at soft rock, hard rock and alluvium sites using the
attenuation relationship of Campbell and Bozorgnia (1994, 2003, 2008). Which
of these conditions agree best with the attenuation relationship of Campbell
(1981)?.

8. Determine the peak horizontal velocity that would have a 10% probability of being
exceeded by a M W = 7.5 earthquake occurring at a distance of 40 km. Use the
Joyner and Boore (1988) attenuation relationship.

9. Using Boore et al. (1994) attenuation relationship, determine and plot the mean
and mean ± one standard deviation response spectra for a M W = 6.75 earthquake
that occurs at a distance of 70 km.

10. Determine and plot the variations of peak horizontal acceleration with distance
for a M W = 6.5 earthquake at hard rock and alluvium sites using the attenuation
relationship of Boore and Atkinson (2008) and Ambraseys et al. (2005).

11. Compute the Arias intensity for the strong motion record of El-Centro
earthquake ground motion (N-S component).

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12. A fault is located in Assam (Jorhat) India, 35 km below ground, which has a
probability to generate an earthquake of magnitude 7.5. Considering Tinsukia to
be 141 km from Jorhat, compute the effective peak ground acceleration expected
at bedrock level.

13. Suppose the predominant horizontal ground shaking during an earthquake can
be assumed sinusoidal with a frequency of 5 Hz. A rigid body with a mass of 1
kg rests freely on the ground and just starts slipping during an earthquake. If the
coefficient of friction between the ground and the body is around 0.5, estimate
the peak displacement of the ground during the earthquake.
14.

15.

16. Surface rupture length (L), rupture area (A) and maximum surface displacement
(D) are good measurable indices to estimate the energy released and hence, the
magnitude M W of the earthquake. Several studies have been made to relate M W
to L, A and D. Study the following empirical equations and provide the useful
comments:

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17. Estimate the probabilities of surface rupture length, rupture area and maximum
surface displacement exceeding 90 km, 60 km2 and 15 m, respectively (use
above equations). Assume the rupture parameters to be log normally distributed.

18. A small segment of the time-history of ground acceleration sampled at an interval

of ∆t = 0.02 s is given below (Fig. 2.2). With the help of diagrams, represent (i)
the set of data for the use in FFT, (ii) the output data from FFT, and (iii) the input
data for IFFT. Also, obtain the Nyquist frequency, amplitude spectrum and
phase spectrum. Note that such a small segment of the time-history is used only
for illustrative purpose.

Fig. 2.2 Discrete values of time-history sampled at 0.02 s

19. Assuming the short segment of the time-history as shown in Fig. 2.2 to represent
an ergodic process, obtain its PSDF.

20. Compare the maximum energy spectrum, smoothed Fourier spectrum, and
pseudo acceleration spectrum (for ξ = 0.05) for the El Centro ground acceleration
record. Also, compare the time periods corresponding to the maximum values of
the spectral ordinates of the three spectra.

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21.

22.

23.

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