Rare earthquake response spectra for typical site conditions in Hong Kong

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rare earthquake response spectra for typical site conditions in Hong Kong

AU - Su, R. K.L.

AU - Lee, C. L.

AU - He, C. H.

AU - Tsang, H. H.

AU - Law, C. W.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015 The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.

PY - 2015/7/3

Y1 - 2015/7/3

N2 - Hong Kong is located in a region of low-to-moderate seismicity; the potential consequences in the event of a nearby major earthquake should not be underrated. In the past two decades, researchers have conducted many studies on this issue and it is now clear that design procedures should not be directly borrowed from other codes of practice without modifications. This paper aims at presenting the rare earthquake response spectra for typical rock and soil sites in Hong Kong, which form the basis of a seismic design procedure. The uniform hazard spectrum (UHS) for rock sites was obtained from seismic hazard assessment using probabilistic methods. Records from 16 boreholes, representing a wide range of local site conditions, were collected from different locations in Hong Kong. A site-specific response spectrum was then constructed based on the results of site response analyses. Moreover, the 16 site-specific response spectra have been grouped into four types based on the (initial) site natural periods, which allows convenient evaluation of the loading characteristics that are expected at different types of sites. Finally, the rare earthquake response spectra proposed for Hong Kong are compared with those constructed based on the Chinese code (GB) and the Eurocode (EC8).

AB - Hong Kong is located in a region of low-to-moderate seismicity; the potential consequences in the event of a nearby major earthquake should not be underrated. In the past two decades, researchers have conducted many studies on this issue and it is now clear that design procedures should not be directly borrowed from other codes of practice without modifications. This paper aims at presenting the rare earthquake response spectra for typical rock and soil sites in Hong Kong, which form the basis of a seismic design procedure. The uniform hazard spectrum (UHS) for rock sites was obtained from seismic hazard assessment using probabilistic methods. Records from 16 boreholes, representing a wide range of local site conditions, were collected from different locations in Hong Kong. A site-specific response spectrum was then constructed based on the results of site response analyses. Moreover, the 16 site-specific response spectra have been grouped into four types based on the (initial) site natural periods, which allows convenient evaluation of the loading characteristics that are expected at different types of sites. Finally, the rare earthquake response spectra proposed for Hong Kong are compared with those constructed based on the Chinese code (GB) and the Eurocode (EC8).

KW - Hong Kong

KW - Rare earthquake

KW - Response spectra

KW - Seismic design

KW - Site natural period

KW - STRATA

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84942523522

U2 - 10.1080/1023697X.2015.1061706

DO - 10.1080/1023697X.2015.1061706

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84942523522

SN - 1023-697X

VL - 22

SP - 179

EP - 191

JO - HKIE Transactions Hong Kong Institution of Engineers

JF - HKIE Transactions Hong Kong Institution of Engineers

IS - 3

ER -