SOURCE CHARACTERIZATION AND GROUND MOTION MODELING COMPUTED FROM THE 3 SEPTEMBER 2015 EARTHQUAKE, WESTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Authors

  • Abd el-aziz Khairy Abd el-aal
  • Elhamy Tarabees
  • Hazem Badreldin

Keywords:

ground motion, waveform inversion, El-Dabaa nuclear power plant site, Egyptian National Seismic Network

Abstract

To obtain the characterized source model for prediction of strong ground motions, the ground
motion generation area and rupture geometry of an inland crustal earthquake from near-source ground motion
records has been estimated. An earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.3 ML and a focal depth of 18 km occurred
on September 3, 2015 at 30.45N, 28.44E in the Western Desert of Egypt about 60 km south of El-Dabaa city.
This earthquake is the first instrumentally recorded earthquake occurring in this area in several decades. The
waveform data of this event has been used for source characterization and ground motion modeling. The
present work describes the results of a preliminary study conducted to obtain fault plane solutions of this
earthquake from waveform inversion and P-wave polarity. For this purpose, the source parameters related to
the strong ground motion were estimated by waveform data and first arrivals recorded by the Egyptian
National Seismic Network (ENSN) are used to arrive at focal mechanism solutions. Fault plane solutions for
the main shock indicate strike-slip motion. One nodal plate strikes about 330°, is nearly vertical, and
indicates right lateral slip. The other nodal plane strikes about 240°, dips very steeply NW, and indicates left
lateral slip. Also the peak ground acceleration (PGA) at the El-Dabaa site has been simulated by taking into
account an accurate estimation of the source characterization, the path attenuation model, and site
amplification. The results have been validated using an actual recording of PGA at one ENSN station that
recorded strong ground motion.

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Published

2017-01-20

How to Cite

Abd el-aziz Khairy Abd el-aal, Elhamy Tarabees, & Hazem Badreldin. (2017). SOURCE CHARACTERIZATION AND GROUND MOTION MODELING COMPUTED FROM THE 3 SEPTEMBER 2015 EARTHQUAKE, WESTERN DESERT, EGYPT. GEOMATE Journal, 12(30), 166–174. Retrieved from https://geomatejournal.com/geomate/article/view/1266