Prediction Equation for Horizontal Ground Motion Peak Values in the Loess Plateau Region

Abstract

This study collects all strong motion records from 134 seismic events in the Loess Plateau region of China between 2020 and 2023. The corresponding ground motion attenuation dataset is constructed through data processing and screening, including 1149 soil horizontal strong ground motion records. Based on this dataset, two ground motion attenuation models are developed. Specifically, through magnitude grouping and weighted processing, two-step fitting methods are used to establish prediction equations for the peak ground acceleration (PGA), effective peak acceleration (EPA), and peak ground velocity (PGV) at the horizontal soil layers. These equations can estimate ground motion parameters with magnitudes ranging from MS 3.0 to MS 6.5 and epicentral distances between 0 and 100 km. Furthermore, attenuation curves are plotted based on the prediction equations. A comparison between the actual observed values and the predicted curves and an evaluation of the fitting residuals assess our models’ fitting performance. The attenuation characteristics of horizontal ground motion parameters in the Loess Plateau region are systematically summarized.

Keywords

• Loess Plateau of China
• ground motion attenuation
• strong motion records
• attenuation model
• peak ground acceleration (PGA)
• effective peak acceleration (EPA)