• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.407-418
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• 2021

Due to the complexity of the causes of the sliding mass instabilities, landslide susceptibility and hazard evaluation are difficult, but they can be more carefully considered and regionally evaluated by using new programming technologies to minimize the hazard. This study aims to evaluate the landslide hazard zonation in the Tabriz region, Iran. A fuzzy logic-based multi-criteria decision-making method was proposed for susceptibility analysis and preparing the hazard zonation maps implemented in MATLAB programming language and Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. In this study, five main factors have been identified as triggering including climate (i.e., precipitation, temperature), geomorphology (i.e., slope gradient, slope aspect, land cover), tectonic and seismic parameters (i.e., tectonic lineament congestion, distribution of earthquakes, the unsafe radius of main faults, seismicity), geological and hydrological conditions (i.e., drainage patterns, hydraulic gradient, groundwater table depth, weathered geo-materials), and human activities (i.e., distance to roads, distance to the municipal areas) in the study area. The results of analyses are presented as a landslide hazard map which is classified into 5 different sensitive categories (i.e., insignificant to very high potential). Then, landslide susceptibility maps were prepared for the Tabriz region, which is categorized in a high-sensitive area located in the northern parts of the area. Based on these maps, the Bozgoosh-Sahand mountainous belt, Misho-Miro Mountains and western highlands of Jolfa have been delineated as risk-able zones.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1C
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• pp.65-76
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• 2010

Recent earthquake events revealed that severe seismic damages were concentrated mostly at sites composed of soil sediments rather than firm rock. This indicates that the site effects inducing the amplification of earthquake ground motion are associated mainly with the spatial distribution and dynamic properties of the soils overlying bedrock. In this study, an integrated GIS-based information system for geotechnical data was constructed to establish a regional counterplan against ground motions at a representative metropolitan area, Seoul, in Korea. To implement the GIS-based geotechnical information system for the Seoul area, existing geotechnical investigation data were collected in and around the study area and additionally a walkover site survey was carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data. For practical application of the geotechnical information system used to estimate the site effects at the area of interest, seismic zoning maps of geotechnical earthquake engineering parameters, such as the depth to bedrock and the site period, were created and presented as regional synthetic strategy for earthquake-induced hazards prediction. In addition, seismic zonation of site classification was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design at any site and administrative sub-unit in the Seoul area. Based on the case study on seismic zonations for Seoul, it was verified that the GIS-based geotechnical information system was very useful for the regional prediction of seismic hazards and also the decision support for seismic hazard mitigation particularly at the metropolitan area.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.207-232
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• 2011

The development of reliable earthquake mitigation plans and seismic risk management procedures can only be based on the establishment of comprehensive earthquake hazard and loss scenarios. Two cities, Grevena (Greece) and D$\ddot{u}$zce (Turkey), were used as case studies in order to apply a comprehensive methodology for the vulnerability and loss assessment of lifelines. The methodology has the following distinctive phases: detailed inventory, identification of the typology of each component and system, evaluation of the probabilistic seismic hazard, geotechnical zonation, ground response analysis and estimation of the spatial distribution of seismic motion for different seismic scenarios, vulnerability analysis of the exposed elements at risk. Estimating adequate earthquake scenarios for different mean return periods, and selecting appropriate vulnerability functions, expected damages of the water and waste water systems in D$\ddot{u}$zce and of the roadway network and waste water system of Grevena are estimated and discussed; comparisons with observed earthquake damages are also made in the case of D$\ddot{u}$zce, proving the reliability and the efficiency of the proposed methodology. The results of the present study constitute a sound basis for the development of efficient loss scenarios for lifelines and infrastructure facilities in seismic prone areas. The first part of this paper, concerning the estimation of the seismic ground motions, has been utilized in the companion paper by Kappos et al. (2010) in the same journal.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.189-206
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• 2011

Amplification based on empirical relations is widely used for seismic microzonation of urban centers. Amplifications are used to represent the site effects of a particular soil column. Many empirical correlations are available to estimate the amplification of seismic waves. These correlations are based on the ratio of shear wave velocity of foundation/rock to soil velocity or 30 m equivalent shear wave velocity ($Vs^{30}$) and are developed considering deep soil data. The aim of this work is to examine the applicability of available amplification relations in the literature for shallow engineering bedrock sites by carrying out site response studies. Shear wave velocity of thirteen sites having shallow engineering bedrock have been selected for the study. In these locations, the depth of engineering bedrock (> 760 ${\pm}$ 60 m/s) is matched with the drilled bore hole. Shear wave velocity (SWV) has been measured using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave survey. These sites are classified according to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) classification system. Amplifications for an earthquake are arrived for these sites using empirical relations and measured SWV data. Site response analysis has been carried out in SHAKE using SWV and using synthetic and real earthquake data. Amplification from site response analysis and empirical relations are compared. Study shows that the amplification arrived using empirical relations does not match with the site response amplification. Site response amplification is much more than empirical values for same shear wave velocity.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.19-35
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• 2018

The necessity of predicting the spatial information of the site-specific seismic response, which is essential information for the comprehensive earthquake disaster countermeasures, is increasing for the mid-west urban areas where the earthquake-induced damages can be increased due to frequent occurrence of mid-scale earthquake such as 2016 Gyeongju Earthquake and 2017 Pohang Earthquake. Especially, researches on strategic securing of site survey datasets and understanding the site-specific site response characteristics were conducted for Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In this study, a GIS-based framework for site-specific assessment of site response and induced vulnerable area in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea was proposed. Geo-Data based on GIS platform was constructed for regional estimation of geotechnical characteristics by collecting borehole and land coverage datasets. And the geo-spatial grid information was developed for deriving spatial distribution of geotechnical layer and site response parameters based on the optimization of the geostatistical interpolation method. Accordingly, base information for Improving earthquake preparedness measures was derived as seismic zonation map with administrative sub-units considering the quantitative site effect of Gyeonggi-do.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.407-429
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• 2012

There has been much debates on the geologic age of the sediments of the Domi Basin, since age results varied after research methods and fossil groups. This study carried out palynological analysis and seismic interpretation to establish a stratigraphy and environmental reconstruction mainly based on fossil dinoflagellates and Seismic data from the Domi-1 and Sora-1 wells. The dinocyst assemblages found enabled zonation of the well sediment sequence resulting in 4 ecozones. Index fossils among dinocysts and palynomorphic substances indicate geologic age of the well ranges from Eocene to Pleistocene, and paleoenvironment varies from freshwater to inner-neritic marine. The fossil association also suggests strong relationship to Japanese Tertiary basins in Kyushu area in terms of stratigraphy and basin developmental history.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.551-564
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• 2012

This study carried out palynological analysis and seismic interpretation to establish a stratigraphic and environmental reconstruction mainly based on fossil palynomorphs and seismic reflection data correlated with the oil exploation well (BP-1) located in the Sora Sub-basin. There were frequent environmental and floral changes due to sea level change in the Sora Sub-basin. The palynomorph assemblages found in the well sediments enabled paleoecological zonation of the well sediment sequence resulting in 4 zones: Ecozone III, Ecozone IV, Ecozone V, Ecozone VI. Index fossils among palynomorphs indicate geological ages of the units within the well ranging from Eocene to Pleistocene, and paleoenvironment varies from freshwater to inner neritic marine. Previous studies suggest that the marine deposits were slightly different in stratigraphic range from well to well. It is considered the difference is credited to geomorphological setting. This study also shows stratigraphic correlation between existing wells and BP-1 well to establishes a standard stratigraphy of the Domi Basin.