• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2009

The site effects relating to the amplification of ground motion under earthquake loading are strongly influenced by both the subsurface soil condition and geologic structure. In this study, the site effects at the Hongseong area in Korea were examined by both the site investigation including borehole drilling and in-situ seismic tests and the site visit for acquiring geologic information of ground surface. Subsurface of Hongseong area with a major instrumental earthquake event in 1978 is composed of weathered layers of a maximum of 45 m thickness overlying bedrock. A geotechnical information system based on GIS framework was implemented to effectively find out spatial geologic structure of study area and it indicated Hongseong is a shallow and wide shaped basin. Two-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses for a representative cross-section of the Hongseong area were performed to evaluate seismic site responses. From the results of seismic responses, it was observed that the ground motions were amplified during the propagation of shear waves through the soil layer overlying the bedrock and the duration of shaking near the basin edges was prolonged due to the surface waves generated by interactions of shear waves with basin geometry. Furthermore, one-dimensional FE seismic response analyses were additionally conducted for soil sites selected in the basin, and it gives similar results to the two-dimensional seismic responses at most locations in the basin with the exception of the locations near the basin edges, because the basin in this study is very shallow and wide.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.5-19
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• 2009

Most of earthquake-induced geotechnical hazards have been caused by the site effects relating to the amplification of ground motion, which is strongly influenced by the local geologic conditions such as soil thickness or bedrock depth and soil stiffness. In this study, an integrated GIS-based information system for geotechnical data, called geotechnical information system (GTIS), was constructed to establish a regional counterplan against earthquake-induced hazards at an urban area of Daejeon, which is represented as a hub of research and development in Korea. To build the GTIS for the area concerned, pre-existing geotechnical data collections were performed across the extended area including the study area and site visits were additionally carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data. For practical application of the GTIS used to estimate the site effects at the area concerned, seismic zoning map of the site period was created and presented as regional synthetic strategy for earthquake-induced hazards prediction. In addition, seismic zonation for site classification according to the spatial distribution of the site period was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design and seismic performance evaluation at any site in the study area. Based on this case study on seismic zonations in Daejeon, it was verified that the GIS-based GTIS was very useful for the regional prediction of seismic hazards and also the decision support for seismic hazard mitigation.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.201-213
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• 2015

Site effects resulting in the amplification of earthquake ground motion are strongly influenced not only by the subsurface soil conditions and structure, but also by the surface topography. Yet, over the last several decades, most studies of site-specific seismic responses in Korea have focused primarily on the seismic amplification associated with geologic and soil conditions. For example, the effects of local geology are now well established and have been incorporated into current Korean seismic design codes, whereas topographic effects have not been considered. To help address this shortcoming, two-dimensional (2D) seismic site response analyses, using finite element (FE) ground modeling with three different slope angles, were performed in order to assess the site effects of surface topography. We then compared our results, specifically peak ground acceleration (PGA) and acceleration response spectrum, to those of one-dimensional (1D) FE model analyses conducted alongside our study. Throughout much of the upper slope region, PGAs and spectral accelerations are larger in the 2D analyses than in the 1D analyses as a result of the topographic effect.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.32-49
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• 2010

Site characterization on geological and geotechnical conditions was performed for evaluating the earthquake ground motions associated with seismic site effects at a small urbanized area, Hongseong, where structural damages were recorded by an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 on October 7, 1978. In the field, various geotechnical site investigations composed of borehole drillings and seismic tests for obtaining shear wave velocity profile were carried out at 16 sites. Based on the geotechnical data from site investigation and additional collection in and near Hongseong, an expert system on geotechnical information was implemented with the spatial framework of GIS. For practical application of the GIS-based geotechnical information system to assess the earthquake motions in a small urban area, spatial seismic zoning maps on geotechnical parameters, such as the bedrock depth and the site period ($T_G$), were created over the entire administrative district of Hongseong town, and the spatial distributions of seismic vulnerability potentials were intuitively examined. Spatial zonation was also performed to determine site coefficients for seismic design by adopting a site classification system based on $T_G$. A case study of seismic zonation in the Hongseong area verified that the GIS-based site investigation was very useful for regional prediction of earthquake ground motions in a small urbanized inland area.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.3C
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• pp.187-196
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• 2008

An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 occurred at Ssang-gye-sa, a Buddhist temple in Jirisan, located near the southern border of the Korean peninsula on 4 July 1936. It resulted in severe damage of several buildings and structures in Ssang-gye-sa. Particularly, the top component of a five-story stone pagoda in the temple was tipped over and fell down during the earthquake. This earthquake damage case would be usefully applied to estimating the intensity of ground motion in the Korean peninsula, a moderate seismicity region, where strong motion has never been recorded with the exception of historic seismic events. In order to estimate the local site effects and the corresponding ground motion at Ssang-gye-sa site, intensive site investigations including borehole drilling and in-situ seismic tests such as crosshole and SASW tests were performed in the temple area. Based on the site characteristics, site-specific seismic response analyses using various input motions were conducted for a representative Ssang-gye-sa site by means of both one-dimensional equivalent-linear and nonlinear methods with six input rock outcrop acceleration levels ranging from 0.044g to 0.220g. The resultant site-specific seismic responses indicated the amplified ground motions in the short-period range near the site period of Ssang-gye-sa. Furthermore, the intensity on rock outcrop of the 1936 Jirisan earthquake was estimated by making a comparison between the site responses analysis results in this study and the full-scaled seismic test of pagoda model in the prior study.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.238-247
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• 2020

This study simulated strong ground motion waveforms in the southern Korean Peninsula, based on the physical earthquake modeling of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) BroadBand Platform (BBP). Characteristics of intensity attenuation were investigated for M 6.0-7.0 events, incorporating the site effects. The SCEC BBP is software generates broadband (0-10 Hz) ground-motion waveforms for earthquake scenarios. Among five available modeling methods in the v16.5 platform, we used the Song Model. Approximately 50 earthquake scenarios each were simulated for M 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0 events. Representative metrics such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) and peak ground velocity (PGV) were obtained from the synthetic waveforms that were simulated before and after the consideration of site effects (V_S30). They were then empirically converted to distribution of instrumental intensity. The intensity that considers the site effects is amplified at low rather than high V_S30 zones.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2007

The site effects of seismic stations were evaluated by conducting a simultaneous inversion of the stochastic point-source ground-motion model (STGM model; Boore, 2003) parameters based on the accumulated dataset of horizontal shear-wave Fourier spectra. A model parameter $K_0$ and frequency-dependent site amplification function A(f) were used to express the site effects. Once after a H/V ratio of the Fourier spectra was used as an initial estimate of A(f) for the inversion, the final A(f) which is considered to be the result of combined effect of the crustal amplification and loca lsite effects was calculated by averaging the log residuals at the site from the inversion and adding the mean log residual to the H/V ratio. The seismic stations were classified into five classes according to $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f), the maximum level of the site amplification function in the range of 1 Hz < f < 10 Hz, i.e., A: $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f) < 0.2, B: 0.2 $\leq$ $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f) < 0.4, C: 0.4 $\leq$ $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f) < 0.6, D: 0.6 $\leq$ $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f) < 0.8, E: 0.8 $\leq$ $logA_{1-10}^{max}$(f). Implication of the classified result was supported by observing a shift of the dominant frequency of average A(f) for each classified stations as the class changes. Change of site classes after moving seismic stations to a better site condition was successfully described by the result of the station classification. In addition, the observed PGA (Peak Ground Acceleration)-values for two recent moderate earthquakes were well classified according to the proposed station classes.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.169-174
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• 2006

The Korean peninsula has been considered as seismically intermediate region, since seismic activities have been not severe for long time and the active tectonic boundary is also located far away. However, the activities of earthquakes have been increased for last decade. significantly. Since currently important structures and facilities are increasing rapidly in the Korean Peninsula, the importance of seismic design are increasing exponentially too. This study used observed ground motion of Fukuoka event including 11 afterschocks and then estimated seismic parameters representing seismic source, propagation effect, and site effects. The results were comparable to those of other studies. The results could be used seismic design of the important structures and facilities in Korean peninsula.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.191-202
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• 2007

To identify the detailed attenuation structure in the southern Korean Peninsula, a numerical test was conducted for the Q tomography inversion to be applied to the accumulated dataset until 2005. In particular, the stochastic pointsource ground-motion model (STGM model; Boore, 2003) was adopted for the 2D Q tomography inversion for direct application to simulating the strong ground-motion. Simultaneous inversion of the STGM model parameters with a regional single Q model was performed to evaluate the source and site effects which were necessary to generate an artificial dataset for the numerical test. The artificial dataset consists of simulated Fourier spectra that resemble the real data in the magnitude-distance-frequency-error distribution except replacement of the regional single Q model with a checkerboard type of high and low values of laterally varying Q models. The total number of Q blocks used for the checkerboard test was 75 (grid size of $35{\times}44km^2$ for Q blocks); Q functional form of $Q_0f^{\eta}$ ($Q_0$=100 or 500, 0.0 < ${\eta}$ < 1.0) was assigned to each Q block for the checkerboard test. The checkerboard test has been implemented in three steps. At the first step, the initial values of Q-values for 75 blocks were estimated. At the second step, the site amplification function was estimated by using the initial guess of A(f) which is the mean site amplification functions (Yun and Suh, 2007) for the site class. The last step is to invert the tomographic Q-values of 75 blocks based on the results of the first and second steps. As a result of the checkerboard test, it was demonstrated that Q-values could be robustly estimated by using the 2D Q tomography inversion method even in the presence of perturbed source and site effects from the true input model.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2020

Vibration propagated from seismic sources has damping according to distance and amplification and reduction characteristic in different regions according to topography and geological structure. The vibration propagated from the seismic source to the bedrock is largely affected by the damping according to the separation distance, which can be simply estimated through the damping equation. However, it is important to grasp geological information by location because vibration estimation transmitted to the surface are affected by the natural period of the soil located above the bedrock. Geotechnical investigation data are needed to estimate the seismic intensity based on geological information. If there is no Vs profile, the standard penetration tests are mainly used to determine the soil parameters. The Integrated DB Center of National Geotechnical Information manages the geotechnical survey data performed on the domestic ground, and there is the standard penetration test information of 400,000 holes. In this study, the possibility of quantitation the amplification coefficient for each region was examined to calculated the physical interactive seismic intensity based on geotechnical information. At this time, the shear wave column diagram was generated from the SPT-N value and ground response analysis was performed in the target area. The site coefficients for each zone and the seismic intensity distribution for the seismic motion present a significant difference according to the analysis method and the regional setting.