Abstract
The effect of Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments on ground motion from the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake was studied using linear regression analysis and ground motion modeling. Statistical tests applied to 264 Modified Mercalli intensity reports at epicentral distances less than 400 km showed that intensities within the Lower Coastal Plain (near the coast) averaged from 0.5 to 1.0 units less than intensities within other areas over comparable distances. Simulated ground acceleration time histories were generated along two profiles: one trending northeast from the epicenter along the coast and another trending northwest toward the Fall Line. The modeling results (which assume linear behavior) indicate that the thick coastal sediments attenuate high frequency motions (>3-10 Hz), while amplifying lower frequency motions. In contrast, locations on thinner sediments to the northwest experience amplification of high frequency motions. The overall effect is that peak acceleration decays more slowly with distance in the thinning sediments to the northwest of the epicenter than in the thick sediments along the coast.
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