An NGA empirical model for estimating the horizontal spectral values generated by shallow crustal earthquakes

An empirical model for estimating the horizontal pseudo absolute spectral accelerations (PSA) generated by shallow crustal earthquakes is presented in this paper. The model was selected to be simple and the model parameters were estimated using the recordings gathered as part of the New Generation Attenuation (NGA) project. These parameters are presented for sites with an average shear wave velocity in the upper 30 m, V-S30>900 m/s, and for sites with 450 m/s <= V-S30 <= 900 m/s. Site-specific dynamic response calculations are recommended for estimating spectral ordinates for sites with V-S30 <= 180 m/s. Parameters for sites with 180 m/s < V-S30 < 450 m/s are not included in this paper. The median values of peak horizontal ground acceleration (PGA) and PSA for short periods are on the order of 15% to 20% lower for strike slip events and 30% to 40% lower for reverse events than those calculated using pre-NGA relationships. The differences decrease significantly at longer periods. The minimum values of the standard error terms (for moment magnitude, M >= 7.5) are about 15% to 30% larger and the maximum values of the standard error terms (for M <= 5) are about 2% to 12% larger than the pre-NGA values.