Energy of strong motion at earthquake source

This note is the first in a series devoted to a study of the flow of earthquake energy from the source to its destination, the soil–structure systems, where it will drive the relative structural response. The basic seismological aspects of empirical scaling of seismic wave energy, Es, are reviewed, and it is shown how this energy can be represented by functionals of strong ground motion. This constitutes the first required step, after which this energy will be attenuated (dissipated) along the wave propagation path, arriving as the incident-wave energy upon the soil–structure systems. The ultimate goal of this work is to form a basis for formulation of a new design method in which the power of the incident-wave pulses will be compared with the capacity of the structure to absorb this power.