Attenuation of seismic waves from moderate earthquakes of the Vrancea zone

Abstract

The paper presents results of studying the attenuation of ground accelerations from earthquakes of the Vrancea with magnitudes less that 6.0 at distance greater than 300 km in a narrow sector located northeast of the focal region, within the limits of which are located acting and planned nuclear power plants (NNPs). Attenuation of peak ground accelerations in individual sections along the Vrancea–IRIS OBN station path is approximated by individual functions. It is shown that for a rough estimation of the seismic effect of earthquakes from the Vrancea zone it is acceptable to use the empirical relationship obtained by F.F. Aptikaev. For a more accurate estimate, it needs to be modified by adding a constant, whose value depends on the specific conditions of the NPP sites. It is shown that the results of data analysis on moderate earthquakes can be extrapolated to an earthquake with the maximum possible magnitude for the Vrancea zone and used to estimate the maximum seismic effects at the sites of operating and planned NPPs.