Semiempirical model for the estimation of site amplification in Northern South America
Vicente Mercado, César A. Pájaro, Carlos A. Arteta, Fernando J Díaz, Julián Montejo, Mónica Arcila, Norman Abrahamson
Abstract
This article proposes a semiempirical model to estimate seismic site effects based on a predominant‐period classification scheme for application in earthquake ground‐motion models (GMMs). The proposed model introduces the use of the peak amplitude of the average horizontal‐to‐vertical ratio of the spectral response of the site obtained from earthquake records. The site effects model is implemented within a GMM estimated using ground‐motion records from northern South America. The research compares the performance of the proposed site function with other formulations based on V S30 or site predominant period. This approach yields a smaller within‐event variability than alternative methodologies, providing confidence for the reliability of the proposed site classification scheme as a viable alternative for the estimation of site effects, especially for sites for which V S30 measurements are not available.