The Mexico Earthquake of September 19, 1985—Effect of Magnitude on the Character of Strong Ground Motion: An Example from the Guerrero, Mexico Strong Motion Network

Abstract

The Guerrero digital accelerograph network has been operating, since spring of 1985, on rock sites along the coast of Mexico, above an active subduction zone. The accelerograms collected through June 1987 include examples from events with magnitudes from 3 to 8, all recorded at nearly the same hypocentral distance. Spectra from these accelerograms scale in a manner that is qualitatively consistent with earthquake source theory. Based on four selected events, peak accelerations attenuate more rapidly for small events than for large events.