Analysis of long-distance earthquake tremors and base shear demand for buildings in Singapore

The seismic faults which cause long distance earthquakes for Singapore have been analysed and the maximum possible earthquake in each of these faults have been identified. A seismic hazard predictive model developed from geop hysical principles, known as the component attenuation model (CAM), has bee n used to estimate the bedrock motion in Singapore. CAM has been validated by comparison of the estimated ground motion parameters with historical att enuation data. Earthquakes considered in the study originated from the Indo nesian Arc and the Burmese Are in the south-western part of the Eurasian pl ate spanning between 90 degreesE and 105 degreesE, and between -5 degreesS and 25 degreesN. An earthquake of 7.6 in Richter Magnitude, from a 400 km d istance has been shown to be critical for buildings up to 25 storeys. The e lastic base shear demand corresponding to this bedrock motion when accounte d for amplification by soft soil is found to be below 10% of the weight of the building. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.