Abstract
The amplification effects of shallow soft-surface layers with respect to an underlying hard-soil layer or rock are studied using data recorded from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Twenty-four sites have been studied with depths to rock ranging from 4–30 m. At each site, two records were available: one in rock at the bottom of the borehole at depths of 100–500 m and one on the surface of the soft-soil layer. Analyses of the soil-rock columns were conducted using the program SHAKE. Good agreement was found between calculated and recorded surface spectra, which demonstrated the reliability of SHAKE analyses for the sites under study. Therefore, SHAKE analyses were used to determine the outcrop motions at the top of rock. Amplification factors were determined by comparing characteristics of the surface and outcrop motions such as Fourier and response spectra. Computed amplification factors were correlated with V S30, V soil , and soft layer period, T = 4H/V soil . The results show clearly that the most reliable correlations for estimating the amplification of soft shallow surface layers less than 30 m are those based on V S30 and soft layer period, T.
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