An Evaluation of Strong-Motion Parameters at the S-net Ocean-Bottom Seismograph Sites Near the Kanto Basin for Earthquake Early Warning

Abstract

We analyzed strong-motion records at the ground and borehole in and around the Kanto Basin and the seafloor in the Japan Trench area from three nearby offshore earthquakes of similar magnitudes (Mw 5.8–5.9). The seafloor strong-motion records were obtained from S-net, which was established to enhance tsunami and earthquake early warnings after the 2011 great Tohoku-oki earthquake disaster. The borehole records were obtained from MeSO-net, a dense network of seismometers installed at a depth of 20 m in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The ground records were obtained from the K-NET and KiK-net networks, established after the 1995 great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake disaster. The MeSO-net and S-net stations record the shakings continuously, while the K-NET and KiK-net records are based on triggering thresholds. It is crucial to evaluate the properties of strong motions recorded by the S-net for earthquake early warning (EEW). This paper compared the peak ground accelerations (PGAs) and peak ground velocities (PGVs) between the S-net and K-NET/KiK-net stations. Because the MeSO-net records were from the borehole, we compared the PGAs and significant durations of the low-frequency motions (0.1–0.5 Hz) between the S-net and MeSO-net stations from identical record lengths. We found that the horizontal PGAs and PGVs at the S-net sites were similar to or larger than the K-NET/KiK-net sites for the S wave. In contrast, the vertical PGAs and PGVs at the S-net sites were similar to or smaller than those at the K-NET/KiK-net sites for the S wave. Particularly, the PGAs and PGVs for the P-wave parts on the vertical-component records of S-net were, on average, much smaller than those of K-NET/KiK-net records. The difference was more evident in the PGAs. The average ratios of S-wave horizontal to vertical PGAs were about 2.5 and 5 for the land and S-net sites, respectively. The low-frequency PGAs at the S-net sites were similar to or larger than those of the MeSO-net borehole records. The significant durations between the two-networks low-frequency records were generally comparable. Quantification of the results from a larger dataset may contribute to ground-motion prediction for EEW and the design of the offshore facilities.