Mechanisms for Generation of Near-Fault Ground Motion Pulses for Dip-Slip Faulting

Abstract

We analyzed the seismological aspects of the nearfault ground motion pulses and studied the main characteristics of the rupture configuration that contribute to the pulse generation for dip-slip faulting events by performing forward simulations in broadband and low-frequency ranges for different rupture scenarios of the 2009 L’Aquila, Italy (Mw 6.3) earthquake. The rupture scenarios were based on the broadband source model determined by Poiata et al. (Geophys J Int 191:224–242, 2012). Our analyses demonstrated that ground motion pulses affect spectral characteristics of the observed ground motions at longer periods, generating significantly larger seismic demands on the structures than ordinary records. The results of the rupture scenario simulations revealed the rupture directivity effect, the radial rupture propagation toward the site, and the focusing effect as the main mechanisms of the nearfault ground motion pulse generation. The predominance of one of these mechanisms depends on the location of the site relative to the causative fault plane. The analysis also provides the main candidate mechanisms for the worst-case rupture scenarios of pulse generation for the city of L’Aquila and, more generally, the hanging-wall sites located above the area of large slip (strong motion generation area).