Nonlinear sediment response during the 1994 Northridge earthquake: Observations and finite source simulations

We have addressed the long‐standing question regarding nonlinear sediment response in the Los Angeles region by testing whether sediment amplification was similar between the Northridge earthquake and its aftershocks. Comparing the weak‐ and strong‐motion site response at 15 sediment sites, we find that amplification factors were significantly less for the main shock implying systematic nonlinearity. The difference is largest between 2 and 4 Hz (a factor of 2), and is significant at the 99% confidence level between 0.8 and 5.5 Hz. The inference of nonlinearity is robust with respect to the removal of possibly anomalous sediment sites and how the reference‐site motion is defined. Furthermore, theoretical ground‐motion simulations show no evidence of any bias from finite source effects during the main shock. Nonlinearity is also suggested by the fact that the four sediment sites that contain a clear fundamental resonance for the weak motion exhibit a conspicuous absence of the peak in the strong motion. Although we have taken the first step of establishing the presence of nonlinearity, it remains to define the physics of nonlinear response and to test the methodologies presently applied routinely in engineering practice. The inference of nonlinearity implies that care must be exercised in using sediment site data to study large earthquakes or predict strong ground motion.