A New Method for the Realistic Estimation of Seismic Ground Motion in Megacities: The Case of Rome

Abstract

A hybrid technique, based on mode summation and finite differences, is used to simulate the ground motion induced in the city of Rome by the January 13, 1915, Fucino (Italy) earthquake (ML=6.8). The technique allows us to take into consideration source, path, and local soil effects. The results of the numerical simulations are used for a comparison between the observed distribution of damage in Rome, and the computed peak ground acceleration, the maximum response of simple oscillators, and the so-called “total energy of ground motion”. The total energy of ground motion is in good agreement with the observed distribution of damage. From the computation of spectral ratios, it has been recognized that the presence of a near-surface layer of rigid material is not sufficient to classify a location as a “hard-rock site” when the rigid material has a sedimentary complex below it. This is because the underlying sedimentary complex causes amplifications due to resonances. Within sedimentary basins, incident energy in certain frequency bands can also be shifted from the vertical, into the radial component of motion. This phenomenon is very localized, both in frequency and space, and closely neighboring sites can be characterized by large differences in the seismic response.