A Study on Characteristics of Strong Ground Motions from the 2003 Tokachi-oki Earthquake

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The 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, a great interplate earthquake (Mw8.3), is the first M8 class earthquake in Japan since the dense strong-motion networks such as the K-NET and KiK-net have been deployed. We examine spatial distributions of velocity responses (damping factor h=0.05) with various natural periods for this earthquake by using the dense strong-motion network data. The short-period (T=0.1sec; T=natural period) velocity response distribution shows a typical feature for subduction-zone earthquakes; the high response values are observed along the Pacific coast of north Japan. This feature is explained by the S-wave attenuation structure beneath north Japan; that is, the path effect. On the other hand, the long-period (T=20sec) velocity response distribution shows a peculiar feature: at comparable distance, the response values in the northern part of the epicenter are higher than those in the south-western part. This peculiar feature is mainly explained by the source effect; the radiation pattern of long-period Rayleigh waves.We find various types of the site effects. A remarkable one is excitation of long-period basin surface-waves at large plains with thick sedimentary layers. The other remarkable one is nonlinear site response. We find mild nonlinear site response at a soft soil site located on flood plain deposits; the nonlinearity is confirmed by comparing the transfer functions for weak and strong motions using the downhole array data. The distinctive nonlinearity is also observed at a not-so-soft soil site located on reclaimed land during the largest aftershock; the accelerogram shows a spiky waveform.