Shear-wave velocity profile and seismic input derived from ambient vibration array measurements: the case study of downtown L'Aquila

Abstract

Downtown L'Aquila suffered severe damage (VIII-IX EMS98 intensity) during the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 earthquake. The city is settled on a top flat hill, with a shear-wave velocity profile characterized by a reversal of velocity at a depth of the order of 50–100 m, corresponding to the contact between calcareous breccia and lacustrine deposits. In the southern sector of downtown, a thin unit of superficial red soils causes a further shallow impedance contrast that may have influenced the damage distribution during the 2009 earthquake. In this paper, the main features of ambient seismic vibrations have been studied in the entire city centre by using array measurements. We deployed six 2-D arrays of seismic stations and 1-D array of vertical geophones. The 2-D arrays recorded ambient noise, whereas the 1-D array recorded signals produced by active sources. Surface-wave dispersion curves have been measured by array methods and have been inverted through a neighbourhood algorithm, jointly with the H/V ambient noise spectral ratios related to Rayleigh waves ellipticity. We obtained shear-wave velocity (Vs) profiles representative of the southern and northern sectors of downtown L'Aquila. The theoretical 1-D transfer functions for the estimated Vs profiles have been compared to the available empirical transfer functions computed from aftershock data analysis, revealing a general good agreement. Then, the Vs profiles have been used as input for a deconvolution analysis aimed at deriving the ground motion at bedrock level. The deconvolution has been performed by means of EERA and STRATA codes, two tools commonly employed in the geotechnical engineering community to perform equivalent-linear site response studies. The waveform at the bedrock level has been obtained deconvolving the 2009 main shock recorded at a strong motion station installed in downtown. Finally, this deconvolved waveform has been used as seismic input for evaluating synthetic time-histories in a strong-motion target site located in the middle Aterno river valley. As a target site, we selected the strong-motion station of AQV 5 km away from downtown L'Aquila. For this site, the record of the 2009 L'Aquila main shock is available and its surface stratigraphy is adequately known making possible to propagate the deconvolved bedrock motion back to the surface, and to compare recorded and synthetic waveforms.