Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 104, No. 3, pp. 1410–1429, June 2014, doi: 10.

1785/0120130124

Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi

and Niigata Regions, Japan, Inferred by a Spectral Ratio Method
Using Ground-Motion Prediction Equations
by Rami Ibrahim, Hongjun Si, Kazuki Koketsu, and Hiroe Miyake

Abstract Using the strong ground motion dataset of M w 4.0–6.0 earthquakes in

Japan from K-NET and KiK-net, we studied empirically the 5% damped spectral ac-
celeration amplification for periods from 0.05 to 5 s at 75 seismic stations located in
the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata regions. The method of study is based on estimating the
empirical site effect from the spectral ratio of observed and predicted ground motions
based on the ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs). Our results show a large
amplification at most analyzed stations at periods of 0.1 s and shorter; at periods of
0.3 s and longer, large amplifications generally dominate at basin stations, but deam-
plifications generally dominate at mountain stations. Empirical amplification factors
of spectral acceleration were used to correct the observed strong ground motion data
of two crustal earthquakes: the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake (Mw 6.9) and
the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake (M w 6.6). The site-corrected data fit better with GMPEs
inferred by less standard error. We took advantage of a large body of empirical data to
develop a mean empirical site-response model for each region. These empirical mod-
els are superior to models predicted from GMPEs using only V S30 site corrections.
Those relations have shown a low correlation at short periods such as 0.1 s. We
also found the relations are different for the mountain and basin stations. The method
is efficient for calculating site effects at observation stations where insufficient veloc-
ity structure information and a history of earthquake recordings are available.

Introduction
Evaluation of site effects is very important in the empiri-
cal prediction of strong ground motions. The most popular
method for this evaluation is based on the correlation between
the average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m (V S30 ) and site
amplification. Many studies have adopted this method (e.g.,
Borcherdt et al., 1991; Midorikawa et al., 1994; Kanno et al.,
2006; NGA project, 2008 [e.g., Abrahamson and Silva, 2008;
Boore and Atkinson, 2008; Campbell and Bozorgnia, 2008;
Chiou and Youngs, 2008]). However, for the case of response
spectra, it may be difficult to represent the amplification over
all periods, because at long periods the influence of a deep
velocity structure is significant. In addition, this method is
not applicable if information on the velocity structure is
not available for the target site. In their study, Cultrera et al.
(2013) have shown that the simple site effect correction based
on the V S30 included in the ShakeMap package is not enough
to reproduce the observed ground motion recorded during the
Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake (M w 6.9).
There are several classical methods used for the evalu-
ation of site effects. One method is spectral inversion (e.g.,
Andrews, 1986; Iwata and Irikura, 1988). This method is
based on the separation of source, path, and site effects by
applying a linear inversion of the logarithms of observed spec-
tra. Generally, this method gives a relatively good solution if
the constraints for the path or site effects at the reference site
are reasonable. However, a potential problem with such an
approach is that when the constraints are not appropriate,
invalid solutions can be generated (e.g., Field et al., 2000).
Recently, Si et al. (2010) proposed to investigate the site
effect by means of summing and averaging ratios of observed
ground motions and those predicted using ground-motion
prediction equations (GMPEs). They applied this method to
remove the site effect from the peak ground velocity (PGV)
dataset before studying the hanging wall effect of the 1994
Northridge earthquake. They used the GMPEs of Si and
Midorikawa (1999) as a reference model to estimate PGV
on site conditions of V S30
600 m=s. The method is simple,
and the prediction of strong ground motion on reference
bedrock is easy to obtain.
In this study, we used a dense array of strong-motion
sensors located in Japan that have recorded numerous earth-
quakes. We explore whether empirically inferred, low-strain,

1410
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan
site-specific amplification functions based on the method by
Si et al. (2010) can be better used to predict site response
than more traditional engineering methods incorporating
shallow velocity characterizations. Here, in order to study
period-dependent site amplification, we extended the method
of Si et al. (2010) to find the 5% damped spectral acceler-
ation amplification. We used the GMPEs of Kanno et al.
(2006) as a reference model to find the 5% damped spectral
acceleration response on site conditions of V S30
300 m=s.
We found the amplification factors of spectral acceleration
for periods of 0.05–5 s in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata re-
gions. We compared our results with those from other meth-
ods and with theoretical transfer functions. The amplification
factors of spectral acceleration were used to correct the
observed strong-motion data of two crustal earthquakes: the
2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake (M w 6.9) and
the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake (M w 6.6). We also corrected
the same dataset using the site correction relation of Kanno
et al. (2006). We finally present the relation between our
empirical amplification factors and V S30 and compare them
with those of Kanno et al. (2006).
Spectral Ratio Method Using Ground-Motion
Prediction Equations
As in the method proposed by Si et al. (2010), the strong
ground motion spectrum Oω of a specific frequency ω can
be represented as the product of seismic source Sω, path
Pω, and site effects Gω, expressed as
Oω
SωPωGω: 1
On the other hand, the predicted strong ground motion spec-
trum O′ ω from GMPEs can be expressed as
O′ ω
S′ ωP′ ωG′ ω; 2
in which S′ ω and P′ ω are the source and path terms, re-
spectively. G′ ω is the site effect arising from the difference
between the seismic bedrock and the bedrock on which the
GMPEs are defined. If the terms of the source and path effects
can be represented by GMPEs (i.e., if the strong-motion data
distribution are consistent with GMPEs), we can assume
Sω
S′ ω and Pω
P′ ω, meaning that the site
effect with respect to the bedrock might be expressed as
Oω=O′ ω
Gω=G′ ω  ε; 3
in which ε shows the possible remaining bias from the
source, the path, and the influence of deeper velocity struc-
ture effects. The parameter is expected to be a random num-
ber. In order to minimize the bias, Si et al. (2010) suggested
an averaging operation for many records at an observation
station. Finally, the site effect can be expressed as
n

X  n

1X
1 Oi ω Gi ω
Rω

 εi ; 4
n i
1 O′ ω n i
1 G′ ω
1411
in which i is the index of each record and n is the total num-
ber of records used in the estimation of a site effect. Because
εi shouldPbe a random number, a larger n can lead to a
smaller εi =n, which means Rω can represent the site
effect or the amplification factor at the site if a sufficient
number of records is available. Here, we designate Rω
as the empirical amplification factor.
In this study, we used the GMPE of Kanno et al. (2006)
for shallow events with a focal depth less than or equal to
30 km (equation 5) as a reference model for estimating
the 5% damped spectral acceleration response. Their model
represents the strong-motion characteristics of sites with a
V S30 of approximately 300 m=s. The relation is expressed as
log pre
a1 Mw  b1 X − logX  d1 10e1 Mw   c1 ; 5
in which pre is the 5% damped spectral acceleration response
(cm=s2 ), which represents the peak square root of the sum of
squares of two horizontal components in the time domain,
Mw is the moment magnitude, and X is the fault distance
in kilometers. We considered this value as a hypocentral dis-
tance when we used it for the selected data, for which we
defined small earthquakes as those with M w ≤ 6. The param-
eter e1
0:5 was used for all periods. a1 , b1 , d1 , and c1 are
regression coefficients defined at 37 periods between 0.05
and 5 s by Kanno et al. (2006).
Strong-Motion Dataset
We selected data from two seismically active regions in
Japan: the Iwate–Miyagi region in the Tohoku district of
northeastern Japan and the Niigata region in central Japan.
Both of these regions have been affected by many large earth-
quakes. Most recently, the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earth-
quake (M w 6.9) and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (M w 9.1)
occurred in the Iwate–Miyagi region, whereas the 2004
Chuetsu earthquake (Mw 6.6) and the 2007 Chuetsu-Oki
earthquake (M w 6.6) occurred in the Niigata region.
The selection criteria that we adopted in this study were
as follows:
1. We chose earthquakes with M w of 4.0–6.0 to avoid the com-
plexity of source process associated with large earthquakes.
2. We chose only shallow events with focal depths less than
30 km. Figure 1 shows the magnitude–focal depth distri-
bution.
3. We only included records with hypocentral distances of
less than 50 km to limit the path effect.
4. We chose records with peak ground acceleration (PGA) larger
than 10 cm=s2 to expect effective signal-to-noise ratios.
5. We chose five or more records for each station to mini-
mize the factor εi in equation 4.
Finally, we collected records from 87 earthquakes
between 3 September 1998 and 18 June 2011 in the Iwate–
Miyagi region and those from 79 earthquakes between 3 Au-
gust 1998 and 30 June 2011 in the Niigata region. The
1412
(a)
6.5
6.0
Moment magnitude M w
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
0 5 10 15 20
Focal depth (km)
Figure 1. Magnitude focal-depth distributions in the (a) Iwate–Miyagi and (b) Niigata regions.
numbers of stations that satisfied the above selection criteria
were 38 and 37 for the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata regions,
respectively. All records were observed by the K-NET and
KiK-net (Kinoshita, 1998; Aoi et al., 2004) of the National
Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED).
The dataset consists of the vectors of two horizontal compo-
nents. The moment magnitudes of the earthquakes were ob-
tained from F-net (Fukuyama et al., 1998), which is also
operated by NIED. The earthquakes and observation stations
used in the analysis are shown in Figure 2. A high-pass filter
of 0.1 Hz was applied to eliminate long-period ground
motions from all records. Observation stations MYG007,
MYG011, and MYG012 were relocated in 2004, and obser-
vation station NIG019 was relocated in 2007. Only the data
recorded after relocation are used for MYG007, MYG011,
and MYG012, whereas only the data before relocation are
used for NIG019. This difference comes from if there are
enough data after or before relocation.
Before the analysis, we investigated whether there is
nonlinear behavior in the dataset by calculating shear strain.
So far, seismologists have suggested that the ratio of the PGV
divided by the average shear-wave velocity of the underlying
subsurface profile is a reasonable indication of the maximum
shear strain (Idriss, 2013). In the current study, we calculated
the shear strain of our database according to the relation by
Fujimoto and Midorikawa (2006):
γ ′eff
0:4PGV=V S30 ;
in which γ ′eff is the shear strain at the observed site, PGV is the
peak ground velocity (m=s), and V S30 is the average shear-
wave velocity of the top 30 m of soil (m=s). Fujimoto and
Midorikawa (2006) defined the minimum level of a possible
nonlinear effect to be 3 × 10−4 . Because the calculated shear
strains are generally smaller than 3 × 10−4 in our database, it
R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake
(b)
25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Focal depth (km)
is appropriate to assume our database is not strongly affected
by nonlinear behavior of the soil.
Results
Figures 3 and 4 show the empirical amplification factors
of spectral acceleration (in solid line) and sigma (in dotted
lines) at periods of 0.05–5 s derived in this study, at stations
38 and 37 in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata regions, respec-
tively. The amplification curves exhibit different shapes. For
instance, large amplification is dominated at some stations at
short periods and gradually decreases with increasing period
such as AKT019, AKTH06, MYG002, MYGH12, FKSH21,
GNM003, and so on. Those stations are mainly located at
hard rock of mountain areas. In contrast, stations such as
IWT011, MYG006, NIG013, and NIG014 in the basin areas
have shown a small amplification at short periods and
gradual increasing with increasing periods. Other stations
such as MYG005 have shown large amplification at short
and long periods, but not at the medium periods. The values
of sigma have shown a significant reduction at some stations
located on stiff soil sites where V S30 is larger than 750 m=s
such as MYGH04, MYGH11, and MYGH12. For further
verification of the relation of our empirical amplification fac-
tors and station locations, we drew the spatial distribution of
empirical amplification factors on topographic maps of the
areas studied. Among the broad range of investigated peri-
ods, we chose representative periods at short, intermediate,
6 and long periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s. Figures 5 and 6
show the spatial distribution of the empirical amplification
factors for the aforementioned periods. Amplification domi-
nated at most stations in both areas at the period of 0.1 s,
except for IWT011 and NIG014 stations, which show no
amplification. Large amplification factors of 5 and larger
were found at some stations, including MYG002, MYGH04,
and IWTH25. The borehole data from K-NET and KiK-net
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1413

(a) (b)
40°30' 39°00'
km km
0 50 0 50
Mw
4
40°00' 38°30'
5
6
Mw
Records per station 4
>=5 5
39°30' 38°00'
< 5 6
Records per station
>=5
<5 Niigata−ken
39°00' 37°30'
Chuetsu

38°30' Iwate−Miiyagi
Iwate−Miyagi 37°00'
Nairikku
Nairiku

38°00' 36°30'

37°30' 36°00'

139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00' 137°00' 137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00'

Figure 2. Topographic maps of the (a) Iwate–Miyagi and (b) Niigata regions with earthquake distributions (red circles). The light tri-
angles indicate stations recording less than five earthquakes. The dark triangles indicate stations recording greater than or equal to five
earthquakes. Epicenters of the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku and 2004 Chuetsu earthquakes are shown by the black stars. The focal mech-
anisms of both earthquakes are from the Global Centroid Moment Tensor solutions.

reveal that those stations have very low S-wave velocities in
shallow layers, in addition to high impendence found within
the few shallow meters of the soil. The velocity contrast at
such shallow depths could be the reason for such a large am-
plification. For instance, MYG002 station has a shear-wave
velocity of 590 m=s at 7 m depth, which decreases to 400 m=s.
The S-wave velocity decreases again to 270 m=s at 5 m depth
and further decreases to 140 m=s at 1 m depth. This result
agrees well with that of Satoh (2004), who studied the causes
of large PGAs recorded during the 2003 Miyagi-Oki earth-
quake. She found that the main causes were large site ampli-
fication at frequencies greater than 5 Hz at rocks at sites in the
Kitakami Mountain, where many stations of this study are
located, including MYG002, MYG003, and MYGH04. On
the other hand, IWT011 station has shown no amplification
at 0.1 s. The borehole data of this station is available to the
depth of 20 m. The S-wave velocity is 250 m=s and does
not change from the surface to 20 m depth. The absence of
any sharp contrast within the shallow layers might be the rea-
son for no observed amplification. At periods of 0.3 s and
longer, the amplification is still large at the most stations lo-
cated in the basin and coastal areas where soft sedimentary
layers are expected to be found. Deamplification dominates
for stations located in the mountainous areas where hard rock
is expected to be found at periods of 0.3–5 s, such as
AKTH06, IWT025, and IWTH22 in the Iwate–Miyagi re-
gion. This deamplification was also found for the Niigata re-
gion at stations including NIGH19, GNM002, and FKS030.
We compared our results with those of Nozu and Nagao
(2005), who studied the site effect with respect to seismic
bedrock for all of Japan including the Iwate–Miyagi and
Niigata regions using strong ground motion data of K-NET
and KiK-net. They applied a spectral inversion method of the
dataset to separate source, path, and site effects. They covered
a period range of 0.1–5 s, and the site response was calculated
relative to seismic bedrock with an S-wave velocity ≥ 3 km=s.
Their results have the similar period tendency to our results,
but the values are larger at most stations. The difference in
amplification values between this study and theirs is justified
because they studied the site response from the seismic bed-
rock to the free surface, whereas the site response in this study
is from a reference site condition of V S30
300 m=s to the
free surface (see Figs. 3 and 4).
At MYG005 station, a large amplification was found at
long periods of 2–5 s. The site is located on a caldera sur-
rounded by mountains, where volcanic tuff deposits mainly
dominate. Our results were in good agreement with the long-
period amplification observed by Motoki et al. (2010). They
conducted aftershock observations and microtremor mea-
surements around MYG005. They concluded that the site
1414 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

10 10 10 10 10 10
AKT017 AKT019 AKT023 AKTH04 AKTH06 AKTH19
Amplification Factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
1 1 1 1 1 1

13 23 26 39 16 14
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 10 10 100
10 IWT009 IWT010 IWT015 IWT025 IWTH04
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10 10
1
1 1

0.1 1 1 1

18 17 6 IWT011 29 7 6
0.01 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 100 100 100 10
IWTH19 IWTH20 IWTH22 IWTH24 IWTH25 IWTH26
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10 10 10 10

1 1 1 1 1

10 20 9 31 33 42
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 10 10
MYG002 10 MYG003 MYG004 10 MYG007
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10 Amplification factor
1 1
1 1
1 1

8 12 45 24 MYG005 17 MYG006 10
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
10 100 100 100 10 100
MYG009 MYG011 MYG012 MYG013 MYG014
Amplification Factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10 10 10

1 1

1 1 1 1

9 10 MYG010 8 8 8 5
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 10 10 10
MYG015 MYGH01 MYGH02 MYGH04 MYGH05 MYGH06
10
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

10 10
1
1 1 1

1 1 0.1

7 10 12 11 9 9
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.01 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100
MYGH11 10 MYGH12
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

10

1
1

8 9
0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s)

Figure 3. Empirical amplification factors for stations analyzed in the Iwate–Miyagi region. The black solid line at each panel refers to the
mean value of amplification factors, and the dashed black lines refer to sigma for each period. The blue solid lines shown at IWT009,
IWT010, IWTH04, IWTH19, IWTH20, IWTH22, IWTH24, MYG003, MYG004, MYG011, MYGH01, and MYGH11 refer to the site
responses of Nozu and Nagao (2005); the spectral ratio by Motoki et al. (2010) is used at MYG005. The number in the bottom left corner
of each panel refers to the number of events used for analysis at that station.

amplification is affected not only by the 1D velocity struc- In Figures 3 and 4, we also found that at some stations
ture, but also by the effect of the irregular velocity structure large site amplification for relative long periods are estimated
in the surrounding 4 km. We compared our result to the spec- though the bedrock (V S
300 m=s is very shallow; e.g.,
tral ratio of MYGH02 station in their study (see Fig. 3). IWT010, where the depth to the layer of V S
450 m=s is
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1415

10 100 10 100 100 10

FKS026 FKS028 FKS030 FKSH21 GNM002 GNM003
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 1 10 10

1 1

1 0.1 1 1

7 21 10 32 12 5
0.1 0.1 0.01 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
10 10 10 10 10 100
GNM004 NGN003 NGNH29

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

Amplification factor
NGN001 NGN002

10

1 1 1 1 1

7 12 5 8 12 10 NIG013
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 10 10 100 100 100
NIG015 NIG016 NIG017
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

10 10 10 10

1 1

1 1 1 1

14 NIG014 8 19 36 30 NIG018 40 NIG019

0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 10 10 100 100
NIG020 NIG021 NIG022 NIG023 NIG024
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
Amplification factor

10 10
Amplification factor 10 10

1 1

1 1 1 1

20 39 24 25 28 11 NIG025
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 100 100 10 10 10
NIG026 NIG028 NIGH06 NIGH07 NIGH09 NIGH10
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10 10

1 1 1

1 1 1

8 26 27 14 34 17
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
100 10 10 10 100 10
NIGH11 NIGH12 NIGH13 NIGH14 NIGH15 NIGH18
Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
10 10

1 1 1 1

1 1

35 36 13 16 23 8
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s) Period (s)
10
Amplification factor

NIGH19

7
0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s)

Figure 4. Empirical amplification factors for stations analyzed in the Niigata region. The black solid line at each panel refers to the mean
value of amplification factors, and the dashed black lines refer to sigma for each period. The dashed lines shown at FKS028, GNM002,
NIG013, NIG014, NIG017, NIG018, NIG025, and NIGH15 refer to the site responses of Nozu and Nagao (2005). The number in the bottom
left corner of each panel refers to the number of events used for analysis at that station.

only 5 m). This made us wonder if the site amplification es- the moment magnitudes are M w 5.0 and 6.0. The GMPE
timated in this study refers to a bedrock of V S
300 m=s. of Abrahamson and Silva (2008) represents the GMRotI50
For that reason, we compared the GMPE of Kanno et al. value of the two horizontal components (Boore et al., 2006).
(2006) to the GMPE of Abrahamson and Silva (2008) for This measure is larger than the geometric mean but only by a
two cases, in which the hypocenter distance is 30 km and small amount (less than 3%). On the other hand, the square
1416 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
40°00' 40°00'
km km
0 0

Amplification Amplification
1 1
39°30' 3 39°30' 3 IWT025
T02
0
IWT025
De−amplification IWTH19
H IWTH19
IWT015
De−amplification
0.5 0.5
IWTH20
H 0 IWTH22 0 IWTH22
IWTH20IWTH22
IWTH20 I
AKT017A
AKTH04
I AKT017 IWT015
AKTH04
AKTH19 IWTH24 AKTH19
TH 9 IWTH24 IWTH04
TH
3
AKT023 AKT023
T0 IWT011
1
39°00' 9 IWTH25
AKT019 I 5 39°00' AKT019 IWT009
AKTH06 IWTH25
H
AKTH06
H06 IWTH26
TH26
GH
H
MYGH02 MYGH02 IWT010
MYG004
MYG005
MYG005
MYG004
MYGH06

38°30' MYGH05M
5MYG006 38°30' MYGH05 MYG006

MYG009 MYG009

MYG014 MYG014
G014
014
M 13
3
MYG013 MYG013
13
MYG
YGHH01
MYGH01

MYG0
G015
MYG015 MYG015
MYG0
MYG01
G015
0
38°00' 38°00'
139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00'

T = 0.5 s T=1s
40°00' 40°00'
km km
0 0

Amplification Amplification
1 1
39°30' 3 IWT025 39°30' 3 IWT025
IWTH19 IWTH19
De−amplification De−amplification
0.5 0.5
IWTH20
0
AKT017 IWT015 AKT017
AKTH04
9
AKTH19 IWTH24 AKTH19
AKT023

39°00' AKT019
IWTH25
H
39°00' AKT019
AKTH06 IWTH26 AKTH06 IWTH26
MYGH02 MYGH02

MYG005 MYG005
MYG004 MYG004
M
MYGH06

MYGH05 MYG006
G MYGH05
38°30' 38°30' MYG006
MYG009 MYG009

MYG014 MYG014
MYG013
M 3 MYG013
M YGH01
MYGH01

MYG0
G
G015
MYG015 MYG0
G015
0
MYG015
38°00' 38°00'
139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00'

T=2s T=5s
40°00' 40°00'
km km
0 50 0 50

Amplification Amplification
1 1
39°30' 3 IWT025 39°30' 3 IWT025
IWTH19 IWTH19
De−amplification De−amplification
0.5 0.5
AKT017 H 0 IWTH22
IWT015 IWTH20 I IWT015 IWTH20 IWTH22
AKT017
AKTH04 AKTH04
H 9
AKTH19 4
IWTH24 IWTH04 AKTH19 IWTH24 IWTH04
AKT023 AKT023 IWT011
IWT011
T0
01
39°00' AKT019
IWTH25
39°00' AKT019 IWT009
AKTH06 AKTH06 IWTH25
IWTH26 IWTH26
MYGH02 IWT010
MY 2
MYGH02 MYGH04
MYG005
MYG005 MYG004 MYG004 MYG003 MYG002
MYGH06 MYGH12
MYG007
MYGH05 MYG006 MYGH05 MYG006
38°30' 38°30' MYGH11
MYG009 MYG009
MYG010

MYG014 MYG
M YG012
MYG012 MYG012
MYG014 MYG011
13
3
MYG013 MYG013
M YGH01
MYGH01 MYGH01

MYG0
G015
MYG015 MYG015
38°00' 38°00'
139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 140°30' 141°00' 141°30' 142°00'

Figure 5. Maps showing the empirical amplification factors of 5% damped spectral accelerations at periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s
in the Iwate–Miyagi region.
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1417

T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
38 30
38°30' 38 30
38°30'
km km
50

38°00' Amplification 38°00 Amplification

1 1
3 3
NIG015
De−amplificat
tion
De−amplification De−amplificattion
De−amplification
NIG016 NIGH07 NIGH07
0.5 0.5
N
NIGH10 NIGH10
37°30' 37°30' NIGH09
NIGH09
NIG
G028
G
NIG028
FKS028
S028 FKS030 FKS028 FKS030

NIG020 FKSH21
FKSH21 NIG
IG
IG019
NIG019
FKS026 FKS026
NIIG025
025
NIG025 NIGH12
NIG022
NIGH15 NIG026 G
NIGH15
37°00' 37°00' NIGH13
NIGH14
NI
NIG023
NIGH18
NGNH29
GNM002 G
NGN001 G
GNM002
NGN002 NIGH19
N
NGN003

GNM004 GNM003
M GNM004 GNM003
M
36°30' 36°30'

137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00'

T = 0.5 s T=1s
38°30'

50

38°00' Amplification 38°00' Amplification

1 1
3 3
NIG015
De−amplification
De−amplificat
tion De−amplification
De−amplificattion
NIGH07 NIGH07
0.5 NIGH06 0.5 NIGH06
NIGH10 N G01
NIG014 NIGH10
37°30' NIGH09 37°30' NIG017
1 NIGH09
FKS028 FKS030 FKS028 FKS030
NIG028
NIG018
N
FKSH21 NIG
IG019
G0199 NIG020
NIG019 IG FKSH21
NIG024 NIGH11 FKS026 FKS026
NIG
G025
25
NIG025 NIG
G025
25
NIG025 NIGH12
NIG021
NIG022
NIG026 NIGH15 NIG026 NIGH15
G
37°00' 37°00' NIGH14
NIGH18 NIGH18

GNM002 GNM002
G
NGN002 NIGH19
N
NGN003
GNM003
M GNM003
M
GNM004 GNM004
36°30' 36°30'

137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00'

T=2s T=5s
38°30' 38°30'
km km
0 50 0 50

38°00' 38°00' Amplification

1
3
NIG013 NIG015 NIG013 NIG015
De−amplificat
tion
De−amplification De−amplification
NIG016 NIGH07 NIG016 NIGH07
0.5 NIGH06 0.5 NIGH06
NIGH10 NIG014 NIGH10
37°30' NIGH09 37°30' NIG017 NIGH09
FKS028 FKS030 FKS028 FKS030
NIG018 NIG028
FKSH21 NIG018
NIG019 NIG019 NIG020 FKSH21
FKS026 NIG024 NIGH11 FKS026
NIIG025
025
NIG025 NIG025 NIGH12
NIG021
NIG022
NIG026 NIGH15 NIG026 NIGH15
37°00' 37°00' NIGH13
NIG023 NIGH14
NIGH18 NIGH18
NGNH29
NGN001
NG GNM002 NGN001 GNM002
NGN002 NIGH19 NGN002 NIGH19
NGN003
N NGN003
GNM003
M GNM003
GNM004 GNM004
36°30' 36°30'

137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00' 137°30' 138°00' 138°30' 139°00' 139°30' 140°00'

Figure 6. Maps showing the empirical amplification factors of 5% damped spectral accelerations at periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s
in the Niigata region.
1418 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

4 4
10 10
D = 30 km h = 0.05 D = 30 km h = 0.05
Mw = 5 Mw = 6

Spectral acceleration (cm/s )

Spectral acceleration (cm/s )
3 3

2
2
10 10

2 2
10 10

1 1
10 10

0 0
10 AS08_VS30 = 1100 m/s 10 AS08_VS30 = 1100 m/s
AS08_VS30 = 300 m/s AS08_VS30 = 300 m/s
K06_VS30 = 300 m/s K06_VS30 = 300 m/s
-1 -1
10 10
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s)

Figure 7. Comparison between the GMPEs of Kanno et al. (2006) and Abrahamson and Silva (2008) on site conditions of
V S30
300 m=s and 1100 m=s, respectively. We also show the adjusted ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) of Abrahamson
and Silva (2008) to site conditions of V S30
300 m=s.

root of the sum of squares of the two horizontal components
(used in Kanno et al., 2006) is approximately 18% larger
than the geometric mean of Fukushima (1993). We took into
account these ratios for calculating the ground motion by
Abrahamson and Silva (2008). For the sake of comparison,
we corrected the GMPE of Abrahamson and Silva (2008),
where bedrock was defined as V S30
1100 m=s, to define
bedrock as V S30
300 m=s as shown in Figure 7. The com-
parison shows that the GMPE of Kanno et al. (2006) has
larger values than those from the GMPE of Abrahamson
and Silva (2008) at periods of 0.5 s and shorter, but the values
are very close for periods of 0.5 s or longer. The corrected
values of the GMPE of Abrahamson and Silva (2008) for bed-
rock of 300 m=s have similar values to those of the GMPE of
Kanno et al. (2006) at periods of less than 0.5 s and slightly
larger values at periods of 0.5 s and longer. This implies that
the bedrock of Kanno et al. (2006) at periods longer than
0.5 s might suggest a greater V S30 than 300 m=s. To be sure,
we compared the amplification factors of this study and those
by the theoretical transfer function calculated by SHAKE91
(Idriss and Sun, 1992). We examine the effect of different
S-wave velocity at the bottom layer for the estimation of site
amplification factor and compare to the site amplification
factors by this study. We selected two stations in the Iwate–
Miyagi region, MYGH02 station is located in the mountain
area, and the borehole data is available to a depth of 120 m,
where V S
2205 m=s. The other station is MYG006, which
is located in the basin area and has borehole data available to
a depth of 750 m, where V S
2400 m=s. The other two sta-
tions from the Niigata region are FKSH21, located in the
mountain area with borehole data available to a depth of
72 m (where V S
1900 m=s), and NIG025, located in the
basin area with borehole data available to a depth of 4462 m
(where V S
2900 m=s). Tables 1–4 show the S-wave veloc-
ity structure beneath the selected stations. Figure 8 shows a
comparison of the empirical amplification factors of this
study with theoretical transfer functions calculated for the
velocity structural models with different S-wave velocities
of the half-space. The transfer functions calculated for the
low velocities of shallow layers are consistent with results
of this study at short periods, whereas the ones calculated
for deeper structures are consistent with intermediate and

Table 2
Table 1 Velocity Structure Model beneath MYG006 Station
Velocity Structure Model beneath MYGH02 Station
Depth (m) V S (m=s) ρ (×103 kg=m3 ) Qs
Depth (m) V S (m=s) ρ (×103 kg=m3 ) Qs
0 70 1.45 7
0 140 1.55 14 2 130 1.75 13
2 340 1.85 70 17 500 1.95 100
8 450 1.90 100 182 800 2.07 160
20 600 1.97 120 430 1500 2.25 300
62 790 1.95 160 750 2400 2.45 400
120 2205 2.35 400
Velocity structural model is according to the borehole
Velocity structural model is according to the borehole information of NIED to a depth of 17 m and velocity structure
information of the NIED. V S is shear-wave velocity, ρ is model of Koketsu et al. (2008). V S is shear-wave velocity, ρ is
density, and Qs is quality factor for shear wave. the density, and Qs is quality factor for shear wave.
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1419

MYG006 NIG025
10
10

Amplification factor

Amplification factor
1
1

130 m/s 700 m/s

800 m/s 1500 m/s
2400 m/s 2900 m/s
This study This study
0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s)

MYGH02 FKSH21
10 10
Amplification factor

Amplification factor
1 1

450 m/s 340 m/s

600 m/s 670 m/s
790 m/s 930 m/s
2205 m/s 1900 m/s
This study This study
0.1 0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s) Period (s)

Figure 8. A comparison of the empirical amplification factors of this study with theoretical transfer functions calculated for different S-
wave velocities. The velocity structural models are shown in Tables 1–4.

long periods. For instance, the peak of 0.1 s at MYG006 sta- 700 m=s for NIG025 station, whereas the amplification for
tion is mainly caused by the velocity structure above the periods up to 1 s is caused by deeper structure above the layer
layer with V S
130 m=s, and the amplification at periods with V S
1500 m=s. At longer periods of up to 5 s, the
up to 0.6 s is mainly caused by the velocity structure above amplification is caused by the velocity structure above the
the layer with V S
800 m=s. The amplification at periods of
0.6 s and longer is mainly caused by the velocity structure Table 4
above the layer with V S
2400 m=s. The comparison also Velocity Structure Model beneath NIG025 Station
shows that the amplification at periods up to 0.2 s is mainly
Depth (m) V S (m=s) ρ (×103 kg=m3 ) Qs
caused by the velocity structure above the layer with V S

0 110 1.70 11
13 140 1.75 14
Table 3 19 250 1.90 25
Velocity Structure Model beneath FKSH21 Station 20 700 2.05 140
106 1300 2.20 260
Depth (m) V S (m=s) ρ (×103 kg=m3 ) Qs
187 1500 2.25 300
0 200 1.64 20 307 1700 2.30 340
2 340 1.85 70 539 2000 2.35 400
23 670 1.97 140 1941 2400 2.45 400
60 930 2.07 190 4462 2900 2.60 400
72 1900 2.35 400
Velocity structural model is according to the borehole
Velocity structural model is according to the borehole information of NIED to a depth of 20 m and velocity structure
information of NIED. V S is shear-wave velocity, ρ is density, model of Koketsu et al. (2008). V S is shear-wave velocity, ρ is
and Qs is quality factor for shear wave. density, and Qs is quality factor for shear wave.
1420 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

10 5
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s T = 0.5 s
Spectral acceleration (cm/s2) h = 0.05 h = 0.05 h = 0.05
10 4

10 3

10 2

10 1 Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al.. (2006)

±σ ±σ ±σ
Observed Observed Observed
10 0
Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006)
Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study)
10−1

1.5
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s T = 0.5 s
Residual (log10 (Obs/Pre))

1.0

0.5

0.0

−0.5
Obs/Pre Obs/Pre Obs/Pre
−1.0
Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006)/Pre
Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre
−1.5
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2
Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km)

10 5
T=1s T=2s T=5s
Spectral acceleration (cm/s2)

h = 0.05 h = 0.05 h = 0.05

10 4

10 3

10 2

10 1 Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006)

±σ ±σ ±σ
Observed Observed Observed
10 0
Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006)
Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study)
10 −1

1.5
T=1s T=2s T=5s
Residual(log10 (Obs/Pre))

1.0

0.5

0.0

−0.5
Obs/Pre Obs/Pre Obs/Pre
−1.0
Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre
Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre
−1.5
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2
Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km)

Figure 9. Upper panels show the distribution of the observed 5% damped spectral acceleration of the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earth-
quake (blue squares) with attenuation relationships of Kanno et al. (2006) at periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s. We also show the site-
corrected spectral acceleration using our empirical amplification factors (red circles) and the correction factors according to the relation of
Kanno et al. (2006) (K06, green triangles). Lower panels show the residual distribution at the same periods of the original and site-corrected
spectral acceleration to those predicted by Kanno et al. (2006).
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1421

10 5
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s T = 0.5 s
h = 0.05 h = 0.05 h = 0.05
Spectral acceleration (cm/s2) 10 4

10 3

10 2

10 1 Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006)

±σ ±σ ±σ
Observed Observed Observed
10 0
Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006)
Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study)
10 −1

1.5
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s T = 0.5 s

1.0
Residual (log10 (Obs/Pre))

0.5

0.0

−0.5
Obs/Pre Obs/Pre Obs/Pre
−1.0
Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006)/Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre
Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre
−1.5
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2
Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km)

10 5
T=1s T=2s T=5s
h = 0.05 h = 0.05 h = 0.05
Spectral acceleration cm/s2)

10 4

10 3

10 2

10 1 Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006)

±σ ±σ ±σ
Observed Observed Observed
10 0
Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006) Corrected (Kanno et al., 2006)
Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study) Corrected (This study)
10 −1

1.5
T=1s T=2s T=5s

1.0
Residual (log 10(Obs/Pre))

0.5

0.0

−0.5
Obs/Pre Obs/Pre Obs/Pre
−1.0 Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre
Obscor−Kanno et al. (2006) /Pre
Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre Obscor−this study/Pre
−1.5
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 0 10 1 10 2
Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km) Fault distance (km)

Figure 10. Upper panels show the distribution of the observed 5% damped spectral acceleration of the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake (blue
squares) with attenuation relationships of Kanno et al. (2006) at periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s. We also show the site-corrected spectral
acceleration using our empirical amplification factors (red circles) and the correction factors according to the relation of Kanno et al. (2006)
(K06, green triangles). Lower panels show the residual distribution at the same periods of the original and site-corrected spectral acceleration
to those predicted by Kanno et al. (2006).
1422
Table 5
Standard Deviation of Observed and Predicted 5% Damped
Spectral Acceleration at Different Periods for the 2008
Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake
Period
Standard Deviation 0.1 s 0.3 s 0.5 s 1s 2s 5s
Obs=Pre* 0.26 0.3 0.33 0.43 0.36 0.28
Obscor K06 =Pre† 0.23 0.35 0.40 0.5 0.40 0.33
Obscor this study =Pre‡ 0.16 0.19 0.20 0.26 0.23 0.19
*Obs is the observed 5% damped spectral acceleration, Pre is the
predicted 5% damped spectral acceleration according to the GMPE of
Kanno et al. (2006).
† †
Obscor K06 is the site-corrected 5% damped spectral acceleration
according to the relation by Kanno et al. (2006).
‡ ‡
Obscor this study is the site-corrected 5% damped spectral acceleration
according to the empirical amplification factors of this study.
seismic bedrock, where V S
2900 m=s. However, the
transfer function calculated at mountain stations such as
MYGH02 and FKSH21 are consistent with results of this
study at short and intermediate periods of up to 1 s, and there
is no amplification at long periods where the hard rocks are
lying close to the surface. The amplification is mostly caused
by the shallow layers, where we did not notice a significant
effect if we add deeper layers when calculating the theoretical
transfer functions. This comparison refers to the observation
that V S30
300 m=s, which is considered as bedrock in the
GMPE of Kanno et al. (2006), could only be consistent with
short periods, whereas long periods possibly correspond to the
bedrock being composed of harder rocks.
Discussion
We used our empirical amplification factors to get the
acceleration spectra of bedrock defined by Kanno et al.
(2006) for periods of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s, for the
2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku and 2004 Chuetsu earthquakes.
The site correction relationship of Kanno et al. (2006) was
also used to obtain acceleration spectral values for the bed-
rock, expressed as
Ob ω
Os ω=Rω;
in which Ob ω is the 5% damped spectral acceleration on
bedrock, Os ω is the original observed 5% damped spectral
acceleration on the free surface, and Rω is either the em-
pirical amplification factor proposed by this study or the site
effect correction factor calculated according to Kanno et al.
(2006). We used the source models of Suzuki et al. (2010)
and Hikima and Koketsu (2005) to calculate the fault dis-
tance of the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku and 2004 Chuetsu
earthquakes, respectively. Location and focal mechanism
solutions of both earthquakes are shown in Figure 2. The
data corrected by our empirical amplification factors fit better
with GMPE than those by Kanno et al. (2006). To check the
validity of our analysis, we carried out error analyses by es-
R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake
Table 6
Standard Deviation of Observed and Predicted 5% Damped
Spectral Acceleration at Different Periods for the 2004
Chuetsu Earthquake
Period
Standard Deviation 0.1 s 0.3 s 0.5 s 1s 2s 5s
Obs=Pre* 0.26 0.28 0.33 0.36 0.36 0.27
Obscor K06 =Pre† 0.28 0.32 0.30 0.33 0.31 0.23
Obscor this study =Pre‡ 0.22 0.25 0.19 0.21 0.20 0.13
*Obs is the observed 5% damped spectral acceleration, Pre is the
predicted 5% damped spectral acceleration according to the GMPE of
Kanno et al. (2006).
Obscor K06 is the site-corrected 5% damped spectral acceleration
according to the relation by Kanno et al. (2006).
Obscor this study is the site-corrected 5% damped spectral acceleration
according to the empirical amplification factors of this study.
timating the residual and standard deviation before and after
corrections. We found that both residual and standard devia-
tions were reduced after corrections, as shown in Figures 9
and 10. The standard deviation values of the 2008 Iwate–
Miyagi Nairiku and 2004 Chuetsu earthquakes with respect
to their assigned periods are shown in Tables 5 and 6. These
results probably are not affected by the source of the two
mainshocks. Baltay et al. (2011) studied the variability in
earthquake stress drops and apparent stress for four earthquake
sequences in Japan, including the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku
and the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake sequences. The aftershock
data of both earthquakes are almost entirely represented in our
database. They found no systematic dependence of stress drop
or apparent stress on seismic moment for those sequences. We
note that the nonlinear site effect, especially at the stations
close to the source area, cannot be corrected using our empiri-
cal (linear) amplification correction factors.
In order to check the correlation of our empirical ampli-
fication factors with the average shear-wave velocity of the
top 30 m of soil (V S30 ), we drew the distribution of empirical
amplification factors at the same periods as drawn for the
aforementioned V S30 in both regions. We also conducted
linear regression analysis of the data and compared it to the
relation of Kanno et al. (2006) in Figures 11 and 12. For
7
short periods of 0.1 s, the trend of our relations is not con-
sistent with that of Kanno et al. (2006). The gradient of our
relation increases with increasing V S30 whereas it decreases
with increasing V S30 for Kanno et al. (2006). However, the
correlation coefficients have small values of 0.13 and 0.35
for the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata regions, respectively. This
refers to a poor linear correlation of empirical amplification
factors and V S30 at 0.1 s. The amplifications at short periods
of 0.1 s and shorter probably are controlled by the velocity
contrast within the shallow layers, as we explained previ-
ously for MYG002 and IWT011 stations.
Our empirical amplification results are in good agree-
ment with that of Kanno et al. (2006) for the Iwate–Miyagi
region, but the values are slightly larger for periods of 0.3,
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1423

1
10 MYG002

IWTH25
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
MYG004
MYG011 MYG015
Empirical amplification factor

IWTH26
MYG012 MYGH11 MYG014
MYG005 AKTH04
IWT009 MYGH04
MYG014 MYG003 AKTH04
MYG010 IWTH22
MYG007 MYG015 MYG013
IWTH19 MYGH12
IWTH20 IWT025 AKT023 MYG012
AKTH19 AKT019 IWTH24 AKT017 MYG006 AKTH19
MYGH01 IWTH25
MYG013 MYGH02 MYG009 MYGH01 MYG010
MYG006 IWTH04 MYG004
AKTH06 IWT011 IWTH04
IWT015 IWT010 MYG011IWT025
0 IWTH20 IWTH24 IWT010
10 IWT011
MYGH06
IWTH26
MYGH02
MYGH06
MYG009
MYG005 AKTH06
AKT019 IWTH19 AKT023 MYGH11
MYG007 IWT015
MYG003
MYG002 AKT017

IWTH22
MYGH04
Observation station Observation station IWT009
MYGH12

This study log y = −0.03 + 0.16 log x This study log y = 2.38 − 0.89 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.13 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.58
−1
10
1
10
log y = 2.57 − 1.01 log x T = 0.5 s T=1s
MYG010
corr. = 0.61
Empirical amplification factor

MYG006

MYG006 MYG015 IWT011

MYG012 IWTH24
MYG014 MYG012
MYG015
MYG005
MYG013 MYG010 IWTH24
IWT011 IWTH25 MYG004 IWTH25
AKTH19 MYG005 AKTH04 MYGH06 MYGH01 MYG014
AKT023 IWT010
0 MYG004 IWT010 IWTH20
MYG009
10 MYGH01 IWTH20 IWTH26
AKT023 AKTH04 MYGH06
AKT019 MYG009 MYG013
MYG007 AKTH19
MYGH02 IWTH26 IWT015
IWT015 MYG007 AKT019
IWT025 AKT017
IWTH04 MYGH02
MYG011
AKTH06 IWT025
IWTH19 MYG011 AKTH06
MYG003 AKT017 MYGH11 IWTH19
MYG002 IWTH04
MYGH04 MYG003 MYG002 MYGH11
Observation station IWTH22 Observation station MYGH12 MYGH04
MYGH12
IWTH22
This study IWT009 This study IWT009
log y = 2.59 − 1.01 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.52
−1
10
1
10
MYG005
T=2s T=5s
Empirical amplification factor

IWT011

MYG006 MYG006
IWTH20
IWTH24 IWTH24
AKTH19 MYG005
MYG015 IWT011
MYG010 MYG004 IWT010
MYG010 MYG004 IWTH25
MYG015
IWTH25 MYG014 AKTH04
MYG012 MYG009 AKTH19 MYGH06 AKT017
0 IWTH26 AKT017 IWTH20 MYG012 IWT010
MYG013 MYGH06 IWTH26 MYG002
10 MYG014
AKT019 AKTH04
AKT023 MYGH01
MYG013 MYG011 IWT025 MYG009
AKT023

MYGH01 MYGH02 AKT019 MYGH11

IWT025 IWT015 MYG007 MYGH02 AKTH06 IWT015
MYG007 AKTH06 MYG002 MYG003 IWTH19
IWTH04 MYGH04
MYG011 IWTH19
MYGH11 IWTH22 MYGH12
IWTH04 IWT009
MYG003 MYGH12
IWT009 MYGH04
IWTH22
Observation station Observation station
This study log y = 1.92 − 0.78 log x This study log y = 1.27 − 0.47 log x
−1
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.44 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.43
10 2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 11. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) in the Iwate–Miyagi region.

0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s. The results are close for the Niigata region for both regions when V S30 is 500 m=s or higher, where sta-
at periods of 0.3 and 0.5 s, whereas it is different for periods tions are located on stiff soil and hard rock sites. To check
of 1, 2, and 5 s. The values are larger than those of Kanno whether the correlation relations were affected by the station
et al. (2006) at 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 s. Comparing the two locations, we grouped the stations based on whether they
regions, the Niigata region has larger values than the Iwate– were located in mountain or basin areas. We also reviewed
Miyagi at 0.3 and 0.5 s. The values at periods of 1, 2, and 5 s the available velocity profiles beneath the stations down to
are approximately a factor of 2 larger at low values of V S30 , the seismic bedrock (V S
2900 m=s). We considered sta-
where stations are located on soft soil (mostly in basin and tions that have deep sedimentary layers over the seismic bed-
coastal areas). The values are very close for the same periods rock as one group of basin stations. For instance, NIG021,
1424 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

1
10
T = 0.1 s NIG019 NIGH06 T = 0.3 s
FKSH21
Empirical amplification factor

NIG020
GNM003 NIGH09 NIGH10 NIG028
NIG024 NIG028 NIG025 NIG024
NIG018 FKS026 NGNH29 NIGH07 FKSH21
GNM002 NIG013
NIG017 NIGH06 FKS030 NIG026 NGN002
NIG025 NIG019 NIG026 NIG016 NIGH12 NIG017 NIGH10
NIGH13 NIG018 NIG020NIG021
NGN001 NIG021 NGN003 NIGH18 NIGH13
NIG023 NIG022 FKS028FKS026 NIGH11 NIGH19
NIG022 NIGH11 NIGH19
GNM004 NIG015 NIG014 NGN001 NIG016 NIGH09 NIG015 NIG023
NIG013 NIGH15 GNM003
0 GNM004
FKS028 NGN002 NGNH29 NIGH12
10 NIG014 NIGH18 NIGH07
FKS030
NIGH15
NGN003
GNM002

Observation station Observation station

This study This study log y = 1.66 − 0.56 log x
log y = −0.49 + 0.32log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr = 0.35 Kanno et al. (2006) corr = 0.41
−1
10
1
10
NIG025 NIG019
T = 0.5 s T=1s
NIG014
NIGH06 NIG013 NIG019
Empirical amplification factor

NIG013
NIG025
NIG018
NIG014 NIGH13
NIG022 FKS028NGN002
NIG028 NIGH06
NIG024 FKSH21 NIGH11 NIG028
NIG018 NIG026 NGN001
NIGH11 NGNH29 NIGH10 NIG022 NIGH13
NIGH18 FKS028 NGN002 NIG023
NIG017 NIG021 NIG023 NIGH18 NIG024
NIG020 NIG016 NIG017 NIG020
NIGH12 NIG026 NGNH29 FKSH21
0 NGN001 GNM003 NIG015
NIGH15
10 GNM004 FKS026 NIGH09
GNM003
NIG015 GNM004 FKS026 NIG021
NIG016 NIGH12
NIGH10
NIGH19
FKS030 NIGH09
FKS030
NIGH07
NIGH19 NIGH15

NGN003
NGN003 NIGH07
Observation station GNM002
Observation station GNM002

This study This study

log y = 2.75 − 0.97 log x log y = 3.25 − 1.21 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.60 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.74
−1
10
1
10
NIG013 T=2s T=5s
NIG013
NIG018
Empirical amplification factor

NIG014 NIG019 NIG019

NGN001
NIG025 NIG014
NIGH11 NIG028 NIG018
NIG025 NIG020 NIG028
NIGH06 NIG026
NIG020
NIG017 NGN002 NIG021 NIG023 NIGH06 NIGH11 NIGH13
NIG022 NIG026 NIGH13 NIG017 NIG024 NIG021
NIG024 NGN001 NGN002 NIG023
NIGH18 NIG015 NIG016
0 NIG016 NIGH18 GNM003 NGNH29 FKSH21
GNM004 NGNH29
10 FKS028 GNM003 NIGH09
NIGH12 FKSH21 NIG022
GNM004
FKS026 NIG015
NIGH10
NIGH10 NIGH09 NIGH19
FKS028 NIGH12
FKS026 FKS030
FKS030 NIGH19 NIGH07
GNM002
NGN003
NGN003 NIGH15 NIGH15
NIGH07

Observation station GNM002 Observation station

This study log y = 3.29 − 1.23 log x
This study log y = 2.56 − 0.94 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.71 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.70
−1
10 2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 12. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) in the Niigata region.

NIG023, NIGH11, and NIGH13 stations are located in the area velocity structure information is available, such as in the
between the mountain and basin in the Niigata region but have K-NET stations. Because the site effects estimated in this
deep sedimentary layers of 5.5, 4.5, 4.0, and 4.3 km, respec- study consequently include more local factors than an aver-
tively. Except those at short periods, our regression relations age site amplification based on the surface velocity structure
are very close to Kanno et al. (2006) for mountain stations but (such as V S30 ), which were partially considered as a part of
are larger for basin stations, as shown in Figures 13–16. the single-station sigma, a larger than usual reduction from
The proposed method is useful for estimating site am- ergodic standard deviation of GMPEs site effect estimation
plification factors for seismic stations, where insufficient becomes possible. Regarding its applicability, the current
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1425

1
10
MYG002 T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
IWTH25
Empirical amplification factor

MYG011
IWTH26 AKTH04 MYGH11 MYG014
MYG005 IWT009
MYG014 MYG003 MYGH04 AKTH04
MYG010 IWTH22 MYG013
IWTH19 AKTH19
IWTH20 MYGH12
MYG007 AKTH19 IWT025 AKT023
AKT019 IWTH24 AKT017 IWTH25
MYG013 MYG010 IWTH04
MYGH02 IWTH04
AKTH06 IWT025
IWT015 IWT010 IWTH20 MYG011 MYGH06
0 IWT010
10 MYGH06
IWTH26
MYGH02
IWTH24
AKT023
MYG005 AKTH06 IWT015
AKT019 IWTH19 MYGH11
MYG007
MYG003
MYG002 AKT017
IWTH22

MYGH04
Observation station Observation station IWT009
MYGH12

This study log y = 0.43 − 0.02 log x This study log y = 2.19 − 0.83 log x
−1
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.01 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.50
10
1
10
log y = 2.25 − 0.90 log x T = 0.5 s MYG010
T=1s
corr. = 0.52
Empirical amplification factor

MYG014 IWTH24
MYG005
MYG010 IWTH24 IWTH25
MYG013
AKTH19 AKTH04 IWTH25 AKT023
IWTH20MYG005 MYGH06 IWT010
0 IWTH20 MYG014
IWT010 AKTH04 MYGH06
10 IWTH26 AKT023
IWT025
MYG013
MYG007 MYGH02 AKTH19
AKT019 IWT015 IWTH26 IWT015
AKT017
MYG007 AKT019
MYG011 IWTH04
MYGH02
AKTH06 IWTH19 IWT025 AKTH06
MYG003 AKT017 MYGH11 MYG011 IWTH19
MYG002 IWTH04 MYG002 MYGH11
MYGH04 MYG003
Observation station IWTH22 MYGH12
Observation station MYGH12
MYGH04
IWTH22
This study IWT009 This study IWT009
log y = 1.96 − 0.80 log x
−1
Kanno et al. (2006) Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.39
10
1
10
MYG005
T=2s T=5s
Empirical amplification factor

IWTH20
IWTH24 IWTH24
AKTH19 MYG005

IWT010 IWTH25
MYG010
MYG010 IWTH25 AKTH04
AKTH19 MYGH06AKT017
MYG013 IWTH26 AKT023AKT017 IWTH20 MYG014 MYG002
0 IWTH26 AKT023
IWT010
10 MYG014
AKT019
AKTH04
MYGH06
IWT015 MYG013
MYG011
IWT025
MYGH02 IWT025 IWT015
MYG002 MYG007 AKT019 MYGH02
MYG003 MYGH11
AKTH06 AKTH06
MYG007 MYG011 IWTH19 MYGH04
IWTH04 IWTH22
IWTH19 MYGH11
IWTH04 MYGH12
IWT009
MYG003 MYGH12
IWT009 MYGH04

Observation station
IWTH22
Observation station
This study log y = 1.79 − 0.69 log x This study
log y = 0.80 − 0.30 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.35 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.26
−1
10
2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 13. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) for stations located in the
mountainous area of the Iwate–Miyagi region.

method is limited for regions where the seismic activity is Conclusions

high and the seismic stations are densely distributed. The re-
We used a dense K-NET and KiK-net seismic array of
sults accuracy is also dependent on the quality of GMPEs
75 stations in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata regions that had
used as a reference model. However, we aim to apply this recorded 166 shallow earthquakes of Mw 4–6 between 1998
method to cover most of the active regions in Japan where and 2011 to infer empirical 5% damped response spectral
the earthquake data will agree with our selection criteria. acceleration amplifications. The method of Si et al.
1426 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

1
10
MYG004
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
MYG015
Empirical amplification factor

MYG005
MYG010 MYG013
MYG007 IWTH20
MYG015 MYG006
IWTH24
MYG006 AKTH19 AKTH19
MYGH01 MYG013 MYGH01 MYG010 MYG004
MYG009
IWT011
0 IWTH20 IWTH24
10 MYG005
IWT011 MYG009
MYG007

Observation station Observation station

This study log y = −0.41 + 0.30 log x This study log y = 1.43 − 0.50 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.28 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.37
−1
10
1
10
T = 0.5 s T=1s
Empirical amplification factor

MYG006
MYG006 MYG015 IWT011

MYG012
MYG010 IWTH24
MYG013 MYG015
IWT011

0 AKTH19 MYGH01 MYG004

MYGH01 IWTH20 MYG005
10 MYG004
MYG009
MYG007 MYG009

Observation station Observation station

This study log y = 1.28 − 0.46 log x This study log y = 1.67 − 0.56 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.46 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.62
−1
10
1
10
T=2s T=5s
Empirical amplification factor

IWT011

MYG006 MYG006

IWT011
MYG004
MYG004
MYG015
MYG015
0 MYG012 MYG009
10 MYGH01
MYG012
MYG009
MYGH01

Observation station Observation station

This study This study log y = 1.49 − 0.53 log x
log y = 1.16 − 0.36 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.29 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.55
−1
10
2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 14. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) for stations located in the
basin area of the Iwate–Miyagi region.

(2010) was used to compute the site effect for each recording There appears to be some systematic site amplification
site. For this application, the method employed a response or deamplification, depending on spectral frequency and
spectral ratio of empirical to region-specific spectral predic- whether the receiver is on rock or basin. The tendencies ap-
tions incorporating the available source and path parameters. pear to follow the trends expected for rock and basin sites.
The mean empirical site response was evaluated based on Although all recording sites had shallow characterization
repeated earthquakes recorded at each site. data available including V S30 evaluations, some station site
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan 1427

1
10
T = 0.1 s T = 0.3 s
Empirical amplification factor

FKSH21
NIG020 NIGH09 NIGH10
FKS026 NIGH07
GNM002 FKSH21
GNM003
FKS030 NIGH12 NIG020 NIGH10
NGN003 NIGH19 FKS028 FKS026
NIG022 GNM003NIGH09 NIGH19
GNM004
NIGH15 NIG022
NIGH12
0 GNM004
10 FKS028
NIGH07
FKS030
NIGH15
NGN003
GNM002

Observation station Observation station

This study This study log y = 1.62 − 0.58 log x
log y = −0.08 + 0.11 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.09 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.37
−1
10
1
10
T = 0.5 s T=1s
Empirical amplification factor

NIG022 FKS028
FKSH21
NIGH10
FKS028
NIG020 NIG022 NIG020
NIGH12 GNM003
NIGH09
0 GNM004
NIGH15 FKSH21 NIGH12NIGH10
10 FKS026
GNM003 GNM004
FKS026
NIGH19 FKS030
FKS030 NIGH09
NIGH19
NIGH07 NIGH15

NGN003 NIGH07
NGN003

Observation station GNM002

Observation station GNM002

This study log y = 2.09 − 0.78 log x

This study
log y = 2.70 − 1.05 log x
−1
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.45 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.61
10
1
10
T=2s T=5s
Empirical amplification factor

NIG020 NIG020

NIG022
GNM003
GNM004
0 GNM003NIGH09 FKSH21
FKS026 NIGH09
10 FKS028
FKSH21
NIGH12 NIGH10 NIG022
GNM004 NIGH12 NIGH10
NIGH19
NIGH19 FKS028
FKS026 FKS030
FKS030 GNM002 NIGH07
NGN003 NGN003
NIGH15 NIGH15
NIGH07

Observation station GNM002 Observation station

This study log y = 2.46 − 0.97 log x This study
log y = 1.21 − 0.83 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.61 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.43
−1
10
2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 15. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) for stations located in the
mountainous area of the Niigata region.

transfer functions were more critically evaluated using a lay- Using the empirically derived site amplification func-
ered elastic model based on both shallow and deep V S pro- tions and the regional GMPE, site response was estimated
files that were available for the recording sites. The layered for two large earthquakes not incorporated in the database
response was compared to the empirical site response and (the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku and 2004 Chuetsu earth-
indicated that the empirical and the modeled site responses quakes) and results were compared to the approach of using
were in reasonable agreement considering uncertainties in the same GMPE and site V S30 corrections. The residuals were
the site velocity profile. significantly improved using the empirical methodology,
1428 R. Ibrahim, H. Si, K. Koketsu, and H. Miyake

1
10
T = 0.1 s NIG019 NIGH06 T = 0.3 s
Empirical amplification factor

NIG024 NIG028
NIG028
NIG025 NIG024
NIG018 NIGH06
NIG026
NIG017 NIG016 NGNH29 NIG026 NGN002
NIG025 NIG013
NIG019 NGN001 NIGH13 NIG017
NIG021 NIG018 NIGH18 NIG021
NIGH11 NIGH11 NIGH13
NIG013 NIG015 NIG023 NIG014 NGN001 NIG016
0 NIG015 NIG023
10 NIG014 NIGH18
NGN002 NGNH29

Observation station Observation station

This study This study
log y = −0.30 + 0.24 log x log y = 1.26 − 0.27 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.27 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.32
−1
10
1
10
NIG025 NIG019
T = 0.5 s T=1s
NIG014
NIG013
Empirical amplification factor

NIGH06 NIG019
NIG013
NIG014 NIG025 NIG018
NIGH13
NGN002
NIG018 NIG024 NIGH06
NIG028 NIGH11NIG028
NIG026 NIGH11
NGN001 NIGH13 NIG023
NIGH18 NIGH18 NGN002
NIG017 NIG021 NGNH29 NIG023 NIG017
NIG026 NIG024
NIG016 NIG021
0 NGNH29
10 NGN001
NIG015
NIG016 NIG015

Observation station Observation station

This study This study
log y = 2.50 − 0.86 log x log y = 2.76 − 0.98 log x
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.63 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.81
−1
10
1
10
NIG013 T=2s T=5s
NIG013
Empirical amplification factor

NIG018 NIG019
NIG019
NIG014
NGN001 NIG014
NIG025 NIGH11 NIG028 NIG025
NIG026
NIG018 NIGH06 NIG028
NIGH06 NGN002
NIG021 NIG023 NIG017 NIGH11 NIGH13
NIG017
NIGH13 NGN001 NIG021 NIG023
NIG026 NIG024 NGN002
NIG024
NIG016
0 NIGH18 NIG015 NIGH18
10 NIG016 NGNH29 NGNH29 NIG015

Observation station Observation station

This study log y = 2.53 − 0.88 log x This study log y = 2.15 − 0.75 log x
−1
Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.71 Kanno et al. (2006) corr. = 0.75
10 2 3 2 3
10 10 10 10
Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s) Average S-wave velocity of 30 m (m/s)

Figure 16. Correlation of average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m of the soil (V S30 ) with empirical amplification factors determined
in this study (the correlation equation and correlation factor are shown on each panel) and by Kanno et al. (2006) for stations located in the
basin area of the Niigata region.

thus illustrating the usefulness of the methodology. There KiK-net of the National Institute for Earth Science and Dis-
was a good correlation of the empirical site amplification fac- aster Prevention (NIED) at http://www.kyoshin.bosai.go.jp/
tors and V S30 for most oscillator frequencies. kyoshin/search/index_en.html (last accessed March 2014).
The hypocenter locations of the dataset are according to the
Data and Resources unified catalog by Japan Meteorological Agency. The
moment magnitudes of the dataset were obtained by F-net of
The strong-motion data and borehole information are NIED (http://www.fnet.bosai.go.jp/top.php; last accessed
available to the public via the websites of K-NET and March 2014). The moment magnitude of the 2004 Chuetsu,
Empirical Spectral Acceleration Amplification in the Iwate–Miyagi and Niigata Regions, Japan
2007 Chuetsu-Oki, 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku, and 2011
Tohoku earthquakes were obtained by the Global Centroid
Moment Tensor catalog (http://www.globalcmt.org/CMTsearch.
html; last accessed March 2014). SHAKE91 software was
downloaded from http://nisee.berkeley.edu/elibrary/getpkg?
id=SHAKE91 (last accessed March 2014).
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Richard Lee, Cezar I. Trifu, Daine I. Doser, and an
anonymous reviewer for helpful comments.
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Earthquake Research Institute
University of Tokyo
1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
Manuscript received 15 May 2013;
Published Online 27 May 2014