EVALUATION OF DESIGN EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS FOR A SITE AND UTILIZATIONOF STRONG-MOTION DATA

A great majority of structures are designed according to provisions of the Code of Practice in respective countries. The so-called Site Depe ndent Evaluation of Earthquake Parameters are carried out for some imp ortant structural systems. In view of the stringent requirements of sa fety of nuclear power plants (NPP) very conservative procedures were d eveloped for the prediction of earthquake parameters for design of NPP . Sometimes, the same techniques are sought to be applied for other st ructures where site-dependent studies are attempted. This paper discus ses various aspects of this problem and suggests that prediction of ma ximum earthquake should not be based on which structure is supposed to be built in that area. One must leave to the judgement of the enginee rs to tone down the level of design earthquake from the maximum predic ted earthquake depending on the methodology of design and acceptable l evel of damage. This paper also discusses utilization of results obtai ned from monitoring strong motion earthquakes.