Analysis of Characteristics of Horizontal Response Spectrum of Ground Motions from Fukuoka Earthquakes Series

Abstract

Abstract The horizontal response spectra using the observed ground motions from 15 Fukuoka earthquake series, including main earthquake (2005/03/20; Mw=6.5), were analysed and then were compared to both the seismic design response spectra (Regulatory Guide 1.60), applied to the domestic nuclear power plants, and the Korean Standard Design Response Spectrum for general structures and buildings (1997). 178 horizontal ground motions, without considering soil types, were used for normalization with respect to the peak acceleration value of each ground motion. The results showed that response spectrum have strong dependency on epicentral distance. The results also showed that the horizontal response spectra revealed higher values for frequency bands at two frequency bands (about 8 – 10 and 16- 20 Hz) than Regulatory Guide 1.60. The results were also compared to the Korean Standard Building Design Spectrum for the 3 different soil types and showed that thehorizontal response spectra revealed higher values for almost all period bands than the Korean Standard Response Spectrum (500 yrs; Return Period; Seismic province 1; SE soil conditions). Through the qualitative improvements and quantitative enhancement of the observed ground motions, the diversity of the observed ground motions should be considered more significantly to improve the certainty of response spectrum.