Ground Motion and Seismic Source Aspects of the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the ground motion and seismic source aspects of the Canterbury earthquake sequence. Common reported attributes among the largest earthquakes in this sequence are complex ruptures, large displacements per unit fault length, and high stress drops. The Darfield earthquake produced an approximately 30 km surface rupture in the Canterbury Plains with dextral surface displacements of several meters, and a subordinate amount of vertical displacement, impacting residential structures, agricultural land, and river channels. The dense set of strong ground motions recorded in the near-source region of all the major events in the sequence provides significant insight into the spatial variability in ground motion characteristics, as well as the significance of directivity, basin-generated surface waves, and nonlinear local site effects. The ground motion amplitudes in the 22 February 2011 earthquake, in particular, produced horizontal ground motion amplitudes in the Central Business District (CBD) well above those specified for the design of conventional structures.