Strong Motion Attenuation Relations: A Ten-Year Perspective

Abstract

Research on strong ground-motion characteristics conducted in the United States within the last 10 years (1974-1984) forms the basis for a detailed discussion of important factors to be considered when selecting or developing strong-motion attenuation relations for use in earthquake engineering and seismic hazard studies. While emphasis is placed on the empirical prediction of ground-motion amplitudes, a brief discussion of procedures is presented that can be used when insufficient strong-motion data are available to perform an adequate statistical analysis. The discussion is followed by a tabulated summary of selected strong-motion attenuation relations proposed and developed in the last 10 years (1974-1984) to acquaint the reader with the types of relationships currently available.