Site-Dependent Building Response in Singapore to Long-Distance Sumatra Earthquakes

Abstract

Singapore is a city state located in a low seismicity area with mild winds. The country is a classic example of low seismic hazard and high exposure scenario. It is about 400 km away from a highly active earthquake belt, the Sumatra subduction complex, where great earthquakes have occurred in the past. Twenty-seven earthquakes have been reportedly felt in Singapore since the British settlement in 1819. The frequency of these felt events seems to be rising with time as the country develops. The response of a building to long-distance earthquakes is dependent on the type of structural systems and the local geological conditions. Tall buildings founded on Quaternary deposit, i.e. the Kallang Formation, are particularly apt to respond to the long-distance Sumatra earthquakes. Microtremor measurement results correlate well with the geological conditions and give evidence to the phenomenon of site dependent building response in Singapore to the long-distance Sumatra earthquakes.