Earthquake ground motions and site effects

Earthquake ground motions and site effects

Earthquakes are essentially shock waves radiating out from a fault rupture like ripples on a pond. There are two types of body wave:

·         Primary (P) waves: travel fastest through the crust and so are the first to be sensed after an earthquake has occurred.

·         Secondary (S) waves: these cause most of the structural damage due to a mixture of horizontal and vertical ground motions. They travel more slowly. (Bryant,2005; Keller and Blodgett,2008.)

Soft, unconsolidated sediments slow down the passage of earthquake shock waves, and in so doing can amplify and prolong the severity…