Comparison of ground motion attributes from 2011 Tohoku-oki mainshock and two subsequent events

The Mw 9.0 Tohoku-oki Japan earthquake and many of its subsequent aftershocks and triggered events were very well recorded, providing opportunity for detailed study of source, path, and site effects. In previous work, we utilized mainshock data to demonstrate faster attenuation with distance in backarc than in forearc regions, positive event terms for high frequency intensity measures for multiple ground motion prediction models, and minimal scaling of site amplification with Vs30 at high frequencies. In this paper, we consider two subsequent events, one Mw 6.7 on the plate interface that ruptured in the mainshock and one Mw 6.3 inland from the volcanic front, to examine if similar ground motion features are apparent from these data sets. We continue to find evidence for the divergence in attenuation rate in forearc and backarc regions, despite the fact that the events are located on opposite sides of the volcanic front. The site response for these events does not appear to follow previously observed patterns for Japan, being relatively similar to Vs30-scaling in active crustal regions generally.

[1]  N. A. Abrahamson,et al.  A stable algorithm for regression analyses using the random effects model , 1992, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[2]  Kojiro Irikura,et al.  Source model for generating strong ground motions during the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake , 2011 .

[3]  Jonathan P. Stewart,et al.  Nonlinear Site Amplification as Function of 30 m Shear Wave Velocity , 2005 .

[4]  T. Kanazawa,et al.  Joint inversion of strong motion, teleseismic, geodetic, and tsunami datasets for the rupture process of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake , 2011 .

[5]  G. Atkinson,et al.  Forearc versus Backarc Attenuation of Earthquake Ground Motion , 2011 .

[6]  Preliminary Study of the Strong Ground Motions of the Tohoku, Japan, Earthquake of 11 March 2011: Assessing the Influence of Anelastic Attenuation and Rupture Directivity , 2012 .

[7]  Jonathan P. Stewart,et al.  Implications of the Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake for Ground Motion Scaling with Source, Path, and Site Parameters , 2013 .

[8]  H. Thio,et al.  Attenuation Relations of Strong Ground Motion in Japan Using Site Classification Based on Predominant Period , 2006 .

[9]  D. Boore Orientation-independent, nongeometric-mean measures of seismic intensity from two horizontal components of motion , 2010 .

[10]  Jean-Paul Ampuero,et al.  A window into the complexity of the dynamic rupture of the 2011 Mw 9 Tohoku‐Oki earthquake , 2011 .

[11]  Nick Gregor,et al.  NGA Project Strong-Motion Database , 2008 .