DOI: 10.1785/bssa0470030221. Effects of ground on earthquake motion

10.1785/bssa0470030221

Crossref journal-article

Seismological Society of America (SSA)

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (790)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Earthquake damage at a given location depends on properties of the arriving elastic waves, of the ground at the shaken site, and of the structures involved. To investigate effects of the ground on the motion at the surface, five identical seismographs have been operated temporarily at 25 locations within 30 miles from the Seismological Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and their records have been compared with those written by an identical instrument recording in routine at the Seismological Laboratory. The ratio of amplitudes at sites on fairly dry alluvium more than 500 feet deep to those at the Seismological Laboratory (on crystalline rock) is frequently 5 : 1 or more for earthquake waves having periods of 1 to 1 1/2 sec. For waves having periods of 0.1 ± sec. and waves having periods exceeding 10 sec. (length more than 10 miles) the corresponding differences in amplitudes are small. Amplitudes of earthquake waves and of the continuous unrest of the ground recorded at sites on water-saturated soft ground may be ten times those recorded at the Laboratory. The period of waves for which the response relative to that at the Seismological Laboratory is greatest usually decreases as the thickness of the alluvium decreases and is about ¼ sec. at stations on alluvium 100 ± feet thick. At stations on crystalline rock the motion of the ground does not differ significantly from that at the Laboratory for waves having periods exceeding ¼ sec. At sites on alluvium, relatively strong shaking lasts several times as long as at those on crystalline rock; usually this ratio decreases with decreasing thickness of the alluvium. Ground effects may produce appreciable differences in duration and amount of shaking even at localities only a fraction of a mile apart. The importance of selecting crystalline rock or at least dry ground and avoiding water-saturated soft ground for foundations of buildings to reduce potential earthquake damage is stressed.

Bibliography

Gutenberg, B. (1957). Effects of ground on earthquake motion. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 47(3), 221â250.

Authors 1

B. Gutenberg (first)

References 22 Referenced 117

{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB1', 'first-page': '1', 'article-title': 'Description and Theory of the Torsion Seismometer', 'volume': '15', 'author': 'Anderson', 'year': '1925', 'journal-title': 'Bull. Seism. Soc. Am.'} / Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. / Description and Theory of the Torsion Seismometer by Anderson (1925)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB2', 'first-page': '15', 'article-title': 'Geologic Faulting in Southern California', 'volume-title': 'Engineering and Science', 'author': 'Buwalda', 'year': '1948'} / Engineering and Science / Geologic Faulting in Southern California by Buwalda (1948)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB3', 'article-title': 'Geology and Ground-Water Storage Capacity of Valley Fill', 'author': 'Eckis', 'year': '1934'} / Geology and Ground-Water Storage Capacity of Valley Fill by Eckis (1934)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB4', 'volume-title': 'Grundlagen der Erdbebenkunde', 'author': 'Gutenberg', 'year': '1927'} / Grundlagen der Erdbebenkunde by Gutenberg (1927)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB5', 'first-page': '163', 'article-title': 'Periods of the Ground in Southern California Earthquakes', 'volume-title': 'Earthquake Investigations in California 1934-1935', 'author': 'Gutenberg', 'year': '1936'} / Earthquake Investigations in California 1934-1935 / Periods of the Ground in Southern California Earthquakes by Gutenberg (1936)
10.1785/BSSA0410020143 / Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. / Revised Travel Times in Southern California by Gutenberg (1951)
10.1029/TR037i006p00757 / Trans. Am. Geophys. Union / Effects of Ground on Shaking in Earthquakes by Gutenberg (1956)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB8', 'first-page': '202', 'article-title': 'Comparison of Seismograms Recorded on Mount Wilson and at the Seismological Laboratory, Pasadena', 'volume': '12', 'author': 'Gutenberg', 'year': '1956', 'journal-title': 'Ann. de Géophys.'} / Ann. de Géophys. / Comparison of Seismograms Recorded on Mount Wilson and at the Seismological Laboratory, Pasadena by Gutenberg (1956)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB9', 'article-title': 'Seismic Profile across the Los Angeles Basin', 'author': 'Gutenberg', 'year': '1935'} / Seismic Profile across the Los Angeles Basin by Gutenberg (1935)
10.1785/BSSA0460020105 / Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. / Earthquake Magnitude, Intensity, Energy, and Acceleration by Gutenberg (1956)
10.1785/BSSA0200030160 / Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. / Motion of a Soil Subjected to Simple Harmonic Ground Vibration by Jacobsen (1930)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB12', 'article-title': 'Geology of Southern California', 'author': 'Jahns', 'year': '1954'} / Geology of Southern California by Jahns (1954)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB13', 'first-page': '1', 'article-title': 'Seismic Characteristics of Ground', 'author': 'Kanai', 'year': '1956'} / Seismic Characteristics of Ground by Kanai (1956)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB14', 'volume-title': 'Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857', 'author': 'Mallet', 'year': '1862'} / Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857 by Mallet (1862)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB15', 'volume-title': 'Seismology', 'author': 'Milne', 'year': '1908', 'edition': '2d ed.'} / Seismology by Milne (1908)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB16', 'volume-title': 'Earthquake Intensity and Related Ground Motion', 'author': 'Neumann', 'year': '1954'} / Earthquake Intensity and Related Ground Motion by Neumann (1954)
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB17', 'first-page': '335', 'article-title': 'Earthquake Observations … and the Seismic Qualities of the Ground', 'volume': '34', 'author': 'Omote', 'year': '1956', 'journal-title': 'Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst. Tokyo'} / Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst. Tokyo / Earthquake Observations … and the Seismic Qualities of the Ground by Omote (1956)
Reid H. F. 1910. The California Earthquake of April 18, 1906, Vol. 2: The Mechanics of the Earthquake, Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Publ. 87.
{'issue': 'Fasc. 17', 'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB19', 'first-page': '217', 'article-title': 'History and Application of the Magnitude Scale', 'author': 'Richter', 'year': '1948', 'journal-title': 'Bur. Centr. Seismol. Internat. Trav. Scientif.'} / Bur. Centr. Seismol. Internat. Trav. Scientif. / History and Application of the Magnitude Scale by Richter (1948)
10.1007/978-3-663-02558-0 / Handbuch der Erdbebenkunde by Sieberg (1904)
Sklar M. 1955. Application of Seismic Methods to Petroleum Exploration in the San Joaquin Valley, Earthquakes in Kern County, California, during 1952, Calif. Div. of Mines, San Francisco, Bull. 171.
{'key': '2021052617071684200_BIB22', 'first-page': '129', 'article-title': 'Observed and Calculated Values of the Magnetic Intensity over a Major Geologic Structure', 'volume': '49', 'author': 'Uhrig', 'year': '1937', 'journal-title': 'Gerlands Beitr. z. Geophysik'} / Gerlands Beitr. z. Geophysik / Observed and Calculated Values of the Magnetic Intensity over a Major Geologic Structure by Uhrig (1937)

Dates

Type	When
Created	4 years, 3 months ago (May 26, 2021, 2:45 p.m.)
Deposited	4 years, 3 months ago (May 26, 2021, 2:46 p.m.)
Indexed	4 days, 2 hours ago (Sept. 3, 2025, 6:46 a.m.)
Issued	68 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1957)
Published	68 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1957)
Published Online	68 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1957)
Published Print	68 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1957)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Gutenberg_1957, title={Effects of ground on earthquake motion}, volume={47}, ISSN={0037-1106}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1785/bssa0470030221}, DOI={10.1785/bssa0470030221}, number={3}, journal={Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America}, publisher={Seismological Society of America (SSA)}, author={Gutenberg, B.}, year={1957}, month=jul, pages={221–250} }

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