Mainshock-Aftershock Ground Motion Features and Their Influence in Building's Seismic Response

Abstract

This article presents the results of examining ground motion characteristics in 184 real mainshock-aftershock earthquake ground motions. It is shown that the predominant period (a measure of the frequency content) of the set of mainshocks tends to be longer than that of the corresponding aftershocks. It is highlighted that the response of structures under artificial sequences is very different from that of real sequences, particularly when the approach of repeating the real mainshock with identical ground motion features as an artificial aftershock is employed. It is also demonstrated that the predominant period of the aftershock significantly influences the post-mainshock response.

Keywords:

• Aftershocks
• Frequency Content
• Seismic Sequences
• Artificial Sequences
• Permanent Displacement

Acknowledgments

The author would like to express his recognition to Mr. Juan C. Negrete-Manriquez and Mr. Apolo Maldonado for compiling the mainshock-aftershock catalogs considered in this study. In addition, financial support from Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) in Mexico for developing the research reported in this article is greatly appreciated. Finally, the author would like to thank the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers that helped to improve the final version of the article.