THE USUAL type of California earthquake is associated with a relative horizontal slipping of the two faces of a fault which lies essentially in a vertical plane. As a consequence of this slipping, the surface of the ground experiences a severe motion in the neighborhood of the fault during large earthquakes. This surface ground motion can be measured, and for the relatively small number of stro...

We study how the fault dip and slip rake angles affect near-source ground velocities and displacements as faulting transitions from strike-slip motion on a vertical fault to thrust motion on a shallow-dipping fault. Ground motions are computed for five fault geometries with different combinations of fault dip and rake angles and common values for the fault area and the average slip. The nature ...

[1] We investigate the ground motion produced by rupture propagation through circular barriers and asperities in an otherwise homogeneous earthquake rupture. Using a threedimensional finite difference method, we analyze the effect of asperity radius, strength, and depth in a dynamic model with fixed rupture velocity. We gradually add complexity to the model, eventually approaching the behavior ...

The data from five strong-motion accelerograph stations centered above and surrounding the fault are used to develop an approximate three-dimensiunal dislocation model for the San Fernando earthquake. In the resulting model, the dislocation originates near the instrumentally determined epicenter at a depth of 9.2 km and then propagates southward and upward with a velocity of 2 kin/see. Calculat...

A dynamic stability criterion for elastic–plastic structures under near-fault ground motions is derived in closed form. A negative post-yield stiffness is treated in order to consider the P-delta effect. The double impulse is used as a substitute of the fling-step near-fault ground motion. Since only the free vibration appears under such double impulse, the energy approach plays a critical role...

[1] Using a model of a complex fault system, we examine the initiation, propagation, and termination of ruptures and their relationship to fault geometry and shaking hazard. We find concentrations of epicenters near fault step overs and ends; concentrations of terminations near fault ends; and persistent propagation directivity effects. Taking advantage of long sequences of dynamic events, we d...