Site amplification in lava rock on soft sediments

Seismicity and volcanic activity in Iceland are related to the Mid-Atlantic plate boundary that crosses the island. Due to volcanic activity, different sea levels through the ages and glacial drift, the geology in Iceland is quite complex at many sites. In June 2000, two major earthquakes of magnitude 6.6 (M-w) and 6.5 (M-w) occurred in southern Iceland. Ground motion from these main shocks and a number of aftershocks were recorded at the Icelandic strong motion network operated by the University of Iceland. At one of the instrumented sites considerable amplification was recorded on lava-rock overlying alluvial deposits. This site fits poorly in the soil classification systems of most earthquake codes. In this paper the recorded data is analyzed with different methods and the results are compared with the results of a one-dimensional site response analysis. The different methods produce the same characteristic of soil amplification at the site. The findings of this study have important implications for design criteria for sites with similar geology. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.