Seismic Hazard analysis Retrofit
Tutorial-1
1. Assuming P and S wave traveled through the crust at 6 km/sec and 3 km/sec respectively,
estimate the possible location of the epicenter P of a shallow earthquake if P forms an
equilateral triangle with two points A (10,10) and B (35, 10) on the ground surface. What is the
difference in the arrival time of P and S waves at A and B?
2. Two Seismographic stations A and B are located 200 km apart on level ground. An earthquake
occurred between these two stations and the epicenter is located exactly on the line joining
these two stations. The difference in time between P and S wave arrivals was 10 seconds at A
and 15 seconds at B. Determine the location of epicenter from these two stations.
3. On December 16, 1920, an earthquake measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale hit Gansu, a province
in China. Twelve years later, an earthquake measuring 7.6 hit Gansu. How much stronger was
the 1920 earthquake? How much more energy did the 1920 earthquake release compared with
the second earthquake?
4. In 1906, an earthquake occurred in San Francisco that measured 8.3 on the Richter scale. In
1994, an earthquake occurred in Northridge, California, that measured 6.7 on the Richter scale.
How much stronger was the San Francisco earthquake? How much more energy did the San
Francisco earthquake release?
5. An earthquake causes an average of 2.5 m strike - slip displacement over an 80 Km long, 23
Km deep portion of a transform fault. Assuming that the rock along the fault has an average
rupture strength of 175 kPa, estimate the seismic moment (M o) and moment magnitude (MW)
of the earthquake.
6. Calculate the amount of energy released during 2001 Bhuj earthquake (Ms=7.9).
7. Estimate the surface rupture lengths, rupture areas, and maximum surface displacements for
earthquakes of Mw = 6.0 assuming the earthquake to have occurred on strike slip fault.
8. The seismicity of a region is described by the Gutenberg-Richter recurrence law:
1. log λm = 3 - 0.75 M. What is the probability of | M<7 | M>6 |
9. Using DSHA compute the PHA for the site below. Use the following attenuation relationship.
ln PHA (gals) = 6.74 + 0.859 M – 1.8 ln (R+25) (note :R in km)
10. Earthquakes have been recorded over a 175 year period. The distribution is shown below.
Moment magnitude Number of earthquakes
3–4 1790
4–5 200
5–6 15
>6 3
(i) Derive the Gutenberg-Richter recurrence relationship for the region.
(ii) What is the probability that at least one earthquake of magnitude greater than 5.5 in a 10 year period,
and in a 200 year period, will occur?
10) Explain how temporal uncertainty of earthquakes is considered in PSHA.
The seismicity of a region is described by the Gutenberg-Richter recurrence law:
log λm = 3 - 0.75 M. Compute the probability of
a) At least one earthquake of magnitude greater than 7.0 will occur in a 10 year period
b) Exactly one earthquake of magnitude greater than 7.0 will occur in a 10 year period
11. If an earthquake is recorded at four equally spaced locations along a straight line, show
the variation of all the following parameters along the straight line if the epicenter lies on the
straight line, dividing it into two equal parts
(a) Magnitude (b) PHA (c) Duration (d) Predominant period
12. Obtain the time-acceleration response for any earthquake. Determine the bracketed
duration, predominant period and Arias intensity
13. Download the software Seismosignal, which is a freeware. Analyze any earthquake
record in the program and obtain all possible ground motion parameters.
14. For the site shown in Figure, show a typical calculation for PHSA (use equation 1.22 with
σ =0.57 )
Source Recurrence Law M0 Mu
Source logλm=4-m 4 7.7
1
Source logλm=4.51-1.2m 4 5
2
Source logλm=3-0.8m 4 7.3
3
