Characterization of Near-Source Ground Motions with Earthquake Simulations

We examine the characteristics of long-period near-source ground motions by conducting a sensitivity study with variations in six earthquake source parameters for both a strike-slip fault (M 7.0-7.1) and a thrust fault (M 6.6-7.0). The directivity of the ruptures creates large displacement and velocity pulses in the forward direction. The dynamic displacements close to the fault are comparable to the average slip. The ground motions exhibit the greatest sensitivity to the fault depth with moderate sensitivity to the rupture speed, peak slip rate, and average slip. For strike-slip faults and thrust faults with surface rupture, the maximum ground displacements and velocities occur in the region where the near-source factor from the 1997 Uniform Building Code is the largest. However, for a buried thrust fault the peak ground motions can occur up-dip from this region.