Evaluation of near-source seismic records based on damage potential parameters: Case study: Greece

The study presents the results of an investigation that identifies among the available records in Greece those that reveal near-source characteristics, using a procedure based on damage potential parameters. The findings reaffirm the opinion that earthquakes with magnitude less than M=6.0 present near-source phenomena that can cause severe damage to relatively stiff structures, common in urban areas. Spectra from selected accelerograms of near-source records are compared with the corresponding elastic spectra of the current Greek Seismic Code, (EAK 2000), the impulsive character of the Greek near-source records is ascertained and shortcomings of EAK 2000 to account for near-source effects are demonstrated.Based on records from seismic events in Greece and records from international earthquakes of small-to-moderate magnitude, the study demonstrates that there exists a near-source magnitude-distance region, where the velocity pulses have smaller amplitude and period in comparison with earthquakes of great magnitude. A simplified representation of three pulse types is, also, adopted for near-source events. It is found that the type-A pulse related to permanent displacement phenomena does not characterize Greek records. In addition a simple criterion is developed to identify the most appropriate simplified pulse type for near-source seismic events independently of magnitude.