Bracketed and normalized durations of earthquake ground acceleration

Multiple regression analyses of the duration of earthquake ground acceleration are presented. Two types of duration are considered, i.e. bracketed duration and normalized duration. The bracketed duration t a is defined as the elapsed time between the first and last acceleration excursions greater than a [cm/s 2 ], and the normalized duration T α is defined as the elapsed time between the first and last acceleration excursions greater than α times (0 < α < 1) the peak acceleration. Employed are 394 components of horizontal strong motion acceleration records obtained at 67 free field sites in Japan. With the use of multiple regression analysis, the dependence of the bracketed and normalized durations on earthquake magnitude and epicentral distance is studied.