An updated strong-motion database of Türkiye (SMD-TR)

Abstract

We updated the earthquake strong-motion database of Türkiye (SMD-TR) that is initially compiled by Akkar et al. The updated data set consists of of 9244 earthquakes of magnitudes 3.0 ≤ M ≤ 7.8 that occurred between 1976 and 2023. It includes 95,890 three-component waveforms recorded at 1022 stations (55,375 records that are processed from 6710 events and 974 stations). The database is disseminated under research-oriented website DesignSafe ( https://doi.org/10.17603/ds2-f21x-s189 ) and is compiled to provide ground-motion flatfile, which will be updated periodically until 2025. The released version includes events occurred in Türkiye until 28 February 2023, and hence, it comprises of the mainshocks and a great portion of aftershocks from the February 6th, 2023, Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. The database includes event metadata compiled from national and international seismological agencies as well as the literature. We classified events according to their tectonic environments (i.e. active crustal and subduction) and identified the aftershocks. The station information provided by AFAD1 was used to compute the major site parameters, including time-based average of shear-wave velocity of uppermost 30 m (VS30) and depth-to-rock horizon at which the shear-wave velocity (VS) attains 1 km/s (Z1). We also computed the finite-fault distance metrics and flagged the stations located on the hanging-wall side of the rupture, as well as identified pulse-like records. We developed an automatic processing algorithm to determine the waveform quality, apply appropriate filtercut-offs to remove low- and high-frequency noise, and compute ground-motion parameters. The automatic processing was applied to small-magnitude (M < 5.5) events, whereas manual processing scheme is preferred for waveforms recorded from larger events (M ≥ 5.5). The peak ground-motion values, spectral ordinates, and ground-motion duration are provided along with the key data processing parameters in the flatfile.