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Investigation of the local site effects in the northern part of the eastern Anatolian region, Turkey

E. Pamuk

Abstract: 

In seismically active regions, the site effect plays a very important role in planning the design of structures and estimating seismic damage to existing structures. In this study, six earthquakes (M > 3.0) in the northern part of the eastern Anatolian region (Turkey), recorded by 30 accelerometers located on different soil types, were investigated for local soil characteristics using horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (EHV) methods. The EHV results show that the predominant period values change from 0.1 to 1.2 s; also, the amplification factor (A0) values range between 2.0 and 10.5. The soil vulnerability index (Kg) values, which are very important in hazard assessment, range from 1 to 30. The bedrock depths were calculated with the help of empirical relations between the soil predominant period and soft soil thickness. The bedrock depths change from 0 to 110 m. Soil characterisation based on S-wave velocity (VS) is one of the main factors for estimating seismic damages. VS was evaluated using previous results from the surface waves method at 11 accelerometer stations. VS30 values are observed within the range of 250-750 m/s. For detailed study, five accelerometer stations were selected and VS-depth cross-sections, borehole results, and SPT-N values were used.