A method for synthesizing realistic strong ground motion

abstract A new method of synthesizing artificial accelerograms, based on knowledge of the temporal and spatial properties of the energy-release mechanism, incorporates the effects of local geology through theoretical group-velocity dispersion data for a given site. It is assumed that most of the near-field strong ground motion caused by shallow or surface faulting or explosions is represented by energy propagating through the low-velocity surface-wave guide. The new method of generating artificial accelerograms realistically models strong ground motion for applied structural analysis and theoretical investigations of the response of hysteretic-type structures, soil-structure interaction, and statistics of failure.