Thesis
Site response of the 2001 Southern Peru earthquake
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2004
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/275
Abstract
On June 23rd 2001 the region of southern Peru and northern Chile was shaken by a Mw 8.4 earthquake. In terms of seismic moment release, the Mw 8.4 earthquake was arguably the largest worldwide since 1965. The Peruvian states of Arequipa, Ayacucho, Tacna, and Moquegua were severely affected by the earthquake. The Southern Peru earthquake was the result of thrust faulting on the boundary between the Nazca and South American plates. Seismic gaps capable of producing large earthquakes probably still remain along the plate interface to the northwest and to the south of the 23 June source region. These sections of the plate interface retain the potential to produce great earthquakes in upcoming decades. Seven strong motion instruments recorded the Southern Peru earthquake. These recordings are highly valuable due to the scarcity of recordings for earthquakes of magnitude larger than Mw 8.0. This research documents the site conditions at the recording stations with a field exploration program that includes Spectral Analysis of Seismic Waves (SASW). One dimensional site response analyses indicated that site effects at the recording stations contributed significantly to amplification in the highfrequency range, but do not affect the recorded motion at periods longer than about 1.0 s. Observations of damaged buildings in Tacna, Moquegua, and Ilo indicated spatial damage patterns apparently associated with local amplification of seismic waves. A site response study that included field testing using SASW and Standard Penetration Tests (SPT), as well as one-dimensional site response analyses was conducted in the cities of Moquegua and Tacna. The site response analyses indicated that site effects, as evidenced by high ratios of response spectra computed in site response analyses, contributed to the observed levels of damage in both Moquegua and Tacna.
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Details
- Title
- Site response of the 2001 Southern Peru earthquake
- Creators
- Adel M. Cortez-Flores
- Contributors
- Adrian Rodriguez-Marek (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900524807301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis