Peak Horizontal-to-Vertical Acceleration Ratio and Local Amplification of Strong Ground Motion

Residuals of the peak horizontal acceleration for site-independent attenuation relations are shown to have weak positive correlation with the average observed peak horizontal/vertical acceleration ratio (q) at the recording site. This ratio systematically increases as the hardness of the soil decreases. Taking the average observed q at the recording station into account reduces the scatter of data slightly in fitting the assumed peak acceleration attenuation law. If the soil classification of the data is available, soil dependence is found to be weaker if the data are corrected for the effect of q prior to regression. This correction reduced the mean value of q = 1.85 for the Dinarides area to q = 1.52, which, on the average, is characteristic of rock sites.