Estimation of local site effects in Ojiya city using aftershock records of the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture earthquake and microtremors

Aftershock observations of the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture earthquake were conducted in the central part of Ojiya city, the Niigata prefecture, central Japan, to investigate local site effects. We installed eight accelerographs in the vicinity of the K-NET and JMA stations in the area. The stations of the aftershock observations are situated under different geological conditions including one installed in a mountainous area on Tertiary layers to serve as a reference site. We examined the ground-motion characteristics of the records for a Mj 6.1 aftershock focusing on local site effects. The amplification, at a period of less than 1 sec, is the largest in the vicinity of the K-NET station. The amplification at periods longer than 2 sec is larger in the western part of the city than those in the east. We estimated the S-wave velocity structure in the sediments above the basement with an S-wave velocity of 3.4 km/sec from the inversion of phase velocities measured by the array observations of vertical microtremors. We discuss the amplification factors using the S-wave velocity profile and show that shallow soils over the layer with an S-wave velocity of 0.49 km/sec are responsible for the amplification at periods shorter than 0.4 sec. Deeper sedimentary layers are needed to explain amplification at periods of 1 sec.