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VS30 at three strong-motion recording stations in Napa and Solano Counties, California — Lovall Valley Road, Broadway Street and Sereno Drive in Vallejo, and Vallejo Fire Station — Calculations determined from S-wave refraction tomography and multichannel

October 4, 2018

The August 24, 2014, moment magnitude (Mw) 6.0 South Napa earthquake caused an estimated $400 million in structural damage to the City of Napa, California. In 2015, we acquired high-resolution P- and S-wave seismic data near three strong-motion recording stations in Napa and Solano Counties where high peak ground accelerations (PGAs) were recorded during the South Napa earthquake. In this report, we present results from three sites—Lovall Valley Loop Road in Napa County (Northern California Seismic Network station, NCSN N019B) and Broadway Street and Sereno Drive (California Geological Survey station, CGS 68294) and Vallejo Fire Station (National Strong Motion Project station, NSMP 1759) in the City of Vallejo, California. To characterize the recording sites in terms of shallow-depth, shear-wave velocities (VS), we used both surface waves (Rayleigh and Love) and body waves (S-wave) to evaluate the time-averaged VS in the upper 30 meters of the subsurface (VS30). We used two-dimensional (2D) multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) to evaluate VS from surface waves, and a refraction tomography inversion algorithm, developed by Hole in 1992, to evaluate VS from the body waves. As determined by the tomography and MASW analysis for Love waves, we found VS30 near the strong-motion recording stations at Lovall Valley Loop Road, Broadway Street and Sereno Drive, and the Vallejo Fire Station to be from 711 meters per second (m/s) to 767 m/s, 455 to 673 m/s, and 490 to 583 m/s, respectively. We found that VS30 determined from Love waves were higher than those determined from Rayleigh waves at the Lovall Valley Loop Road recording site (221 m/s higher) and at the Vallejo Fire Station site (62 and 48 m/s higher); however, VS30 from Love waves was lower than those from Rayleigh waves at the Broadway Street and Sereno Drive site (78 m/s lower). We also found that VS30 varied depending on the number of shot points used in our MASW analysis for both Love and Rayleigh waves. Furthermore, VS30 values determined from S-wave refraction tomography are generally closer to those determined from MASW using Love waves than those determined using Rayleigh waves.

Publication Year 2018
Title VS30 at three strong-motion recording stations in Napa and Solano Counties, California — Lovall Valley Road, Broadway Street and Sereno Drive in Vallejo, and Vallejo Fire Station — Calculations determined from S-wave refraction tomography and multichannel
DOI 10.3133/ofr20181162
Authors Joanne H. Chan, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Coyn J. Criley
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2018-1162
Index ID ofr20181162
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earthquake Science Center
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