Site Classification for Earthquake Hazard and Risk Assessment in Australia

Authors / CoAuthors

McPherson, A.A. | Hall, L.S.

Abstract

One of the more important observations from the 1989 Newcastle earthquake in Australia was the spatial distribution of earthquake damage, which was strongly related to variability in near-surface regolith properties and their influence on ground-shaking (i.e. site response). This association between ground-shaking and sediment distribution is well recognised, but has not previously been investigated for much of Australia. In an effort to characterize the Australian regolith in terms of its ability to modify earthquake energy, this study develops a national site classification map of Australia for application in first order earthquake hazard and risk assessment. Site classes are assigned based on a method developed in California, which uses the relationship between geological material and the shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m (Vs30). The classification scheme is then adjusted to suit the Australian geological environment, by accounting for the presence of highly weathered in situ regolith commonly encountered in this generally stable tectonic setting. This methodology has been successfully tested using geophysical data from a variety of Quaternary sedimentary environments in the Newcastle, Sydney and Perth urban areas and from bedrock-dominated environments at a range of sites across Australia.

Product Type

nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

65754

Contact for the resource

Custodian

MNHD

Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia

Keywords

External Publication

( Theme )

earthquakes

( Theme )

geohazards

( Theme )

regolith

( Theme )

risk assessment

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Earth Sciences

Published_External

Publication Date

2008-01-01T00:00:00

Creation Date

Security Constraints

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Classification - unclassified

Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Access - license

Use - license

Status

Purpose

Maintenance Information

unknown

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

Lineage

Unknown

Parent Information

Extents

[-44.0, -9.0, 110.0, 156.0]

Reference System

Spatial Resolution

Service Information

Associations

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