Strong Motion Studies At The Monumental areas of Egypt

Abstract

The study of the strong motion behavior near the monumental sites of Egypt was the major interest for the current research. The subject was subdivided into source studies and application of ground motion calculations. In this manner, large earthquakes were classified into historical and instrumental ones depending upon the time of its occurrence and its type of information. The historical earthquakes were studied for the depth of focus and magnitude determination. The procedure for doing so was conducted employing the attenuation studies. The attenuation models were used to deduce the depth of focus and magnitude of the historical events. It is found from the analysis of historical data that there is some kind of seismic activity that is not related to recently recorded activities. The instrumental earthquakes, on the other hand, were studied using recent and sophisticated techniques to calculate their rupture history. A non-linear waveform inversion technique was used to estimate the rupture history in terms of multiple sub­ events. The gained information about the seismic source is thus used to study the strong motion behavior in the vicinity ofthe monumental sites. The estimated ground motion followed two approaches. The first approach was based on the historical data alone where the ground motion was mapped in terms of its maximum reported intensity. The second approach, however, used the rupture history of recent sources together with the source parameters of the historical data to simulate the ground motion. Two maps were produced for low and high frequency motions. The present research work thus contributes many sufficient strong ground motion information for earthquake-resistant designs.