Book Review of “On Strong Motion Seismology” (in Japanese) written and edited by Hiroaki Yamanaka, published by University of Tokyo Press

Abstract

This book is a work for general readers, straight-forwardly treating the theme of "strong earthquake ground motion" directly causing disaster and explaining how to cope. Eartquake ground motion is generally said to cause earthquake disasters and the degree of ground motion is determined both by the magnitude of the earthquake and the distance from its epicenter. In reality, however, things are not so simple. In the 2003 Tokachi Offshore Earthquake, for example, shaking at a relatively long 10-second period resonated at the characteristic frequency of oil tanks, triggering sloshing and causing large fires. In the 1995 Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake (the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster), for another example, a long narrow belt of disaster confirmed where damage to collapsed building was especially significant because only ground within this belt quaked more intensely than elsewhere.