The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Great East Japan earthquake generated significant long-duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected urban areas throughout much of Honshu. Recorded responses of a tall building at 770 km from the epicenter of the mainshock and other related or unrelated events show how structures sensitive to long-period motions can be affected by distant sources. Even when the largest peak input motions to the building is about 3% g, the strong-shaking duration was about 140 s. The 300- to 1000-s prolonged responses of the building are primarily due to a combination of site resonance (e.g. structural fundamental frequency ~0.15 Hz and site frequency ~0.13–0.17 Hz) and low damping (~1–2%) of the structure. Response modification technologies can improve the response of the building during future earthquakes. The need-to-consider risks to such built environments from distant sources are emphasized.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2012 |
---|---|
Title | Response of a tall building far from the epicenter of the 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Great East Japan earthquake and aftershocks |
DOI | 10.1002/tal.1047 |
Authors | Mehmet Çelebi, Izuru Okawa, Toshidate Kashima, Shin Koyama, Masanori Iiba |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings |
Index ID | 70041707 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Earthquake Science Center |