Engineering implications of the 1985 nahanni earthquakes

Abstract A series of strong ground motions was recorded during a set of earthquakes which occurred in the North Nahanni River area of the Northwest Territories of Canada in late 1985. The strongest of these motions were recorded within 10 km of the epicentre of a magnitude 6.9 event; peak accelerations were well above 1 g and peak velocities exceeded 0.4 m/s. This paper describes a study of the engineering characteristics of the Nahanni strong motions, particularly as they affect the response of building structures. The response characteristics are analysed in terms of the response spectra and the unit velocity base shear coefficients for multi‐degree‐of‐freedom elastic frame structures. An analysis of the strong motion durations of the records and several measures of intensity is also included. The characteristics of the Nahanni records are compared with those of typical strong seismic ground motions and an ensemble of epicentral region seismic motions recorded under similar conditions. Comparisons are also made with the equivalent parameters in the 1985 edition of the National Building Code of Canada. It is concluded that the Nahanni records are very strong seismic ground motion records with relatively unusual response characteristics, even when compared with those of other records obtained within the epicentral region. The impact of these characteristics on engineering design is most significant for low period structures in epicentral regions. The specifications of typical design codes do not adequately describe the response to such records for very low periods.