Megacity

Risk Habitat Megacity

Site effect characterization by means of seismic noise and earthquake analysis in large urban areas of Santiago de Chile

Timetable: 2007 – 2010

Person: Jochen Zschau, Stefano Parolai, Monika Sobesiak, Marco Pilz

Urbanisation is one of the most dramatic processes of global change. Based on an interdisciplinary analysis considering also social, economic, and cultural development, Santiago de Chile has been chosen as an ‘anchor city’ for the research initiative. Similar to other metropolitan areas, Santiago is undergoing a rapid process of urbanization with changes in land use and urban morphology.
Due to the tectonic situation, large earthquakes are a frequent phenomenon there. So, an adequate knowledge of site conditions is a fundamental prerequisite for a correct assessment of the seismic risk. The research will focus on the question if the profile of the shear wave velocity, which can be determined by measurements of the seismic noise, can provide a reliable estimation of site effects and if single parameters like the slope of topography can lead to a reliable estimation of the seismic velocity below a site. Additional recordings of earthquake activites with a network of eight seismic stations will allow to analyse and compare observed and numerical calculated site response.

www.risk-habitat-megacity.ufz.de