Some Analyses on Effects of Site Classification on Ground Motion Characteristics in the Chi-Chi,Taiwan Earthquake

According to the epicenter distance and the site classification, the 404 groups of earthquake recordings of the main shock of the Chi-Chi, Taiwan China earthquake in 1999 are catalogued. Based on these data, we analyze the statistical features of duration, PGA, envelopes and the response spectra ratio of the horizontal and vertical components of the acceleration recordings. The results of these analyses show that the effect of site classification on the acceleration of various components is obvious; furthermore, fault direction also has certain effects on the characteristics of the horizontal components of ground motion. The detailed research results are as follows: (1) the duration of the horizontal components of acceleration records increases with the softening of the site; (2) the direction of fault slip has some effects on PGA’s attenuation features; (3) the average envelopes of acceleration records at different distances and site classes are basically single peak functions of time and the envelopes of horizontal and vertical components of ground motion are obviously different; (4) with the same epicenter distance, EW/NS response spectrum ratios tend to approximate 1.0 as the site becomes softer and the period shorter. V/H response spectrum ratios in short periods (<0.1s) increase with the softening of site, however, V/H ratios within the long-period range (>characteristic period) decrease with the softening of the site, and the decrease of V/EW ratio speeds up relatively.