VS30 Seismic Microzoning Based on a Geomorphology Map: Experimental Case Study of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Lamphun, Thailand

Abstract

Thailand is not known to be an earthquake-prone country; however, in 2014, an unexpected moderate earthquake caused severe damage to infrastructure and resulted in public panic. This event caught public attention and raised awareness of national seismic disaster management. However, the expertise and primary data required for implementation of seismic disaster management are insufficient, including data on soil character which are used in amplification analyses for further ground motion prediction evaluations. Therefore, in this study, soil characterization was performed to understand the seismic responses of soil rigidity. The final output is presented in a seismic microzoning map. A geomorphology map was selected as the base map for the analysis. The geomorphology units were assigned with a time-averaged shear wave velocity of 30 m (VS30), which was collected by the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method of microtremor array measurements. The VS30 values were obtained from the phase velocity of the Rayleigh wave corresponding to a 40 m wavelength (C(40)). From the point feature, the VS30 values were transformed into polygonal features based on the geomorphological characteristics. Additionally, the automated geomorphology classification was explored in this study. Then, the seismic microzones were compared with the locations of major damage from the 2014 records for validation. The results from this study include geomorphological classification and seismic microzoning. The results suggest that the geomorphology units obtained from a pixel-based classification can be recommended for use in seismic microzoning. For seismic microzoning, the results show mainly stiff soil and soft rocks in the study area, and these geomorphological units have relatively high amplifications. The results of this study provide a valuable base map for further disaster management analyses.