Dataset Identification:

Resource Abstract:
An earthquake of magnitude 6.0-6.5 in the Sydney region of Australia is viewed by the global insurance community as one of the top 40 risks it faces worldwide from natural disasters . The high ranking of this perceived risk is due to the high population density, standards of construction and the level of insurance exposure in Sydney. Consequently, earthquake hazard and risk in Sydney is an important issue, and one that requires a focused and detailed study in order for the implications of such an earthquake to be fully understood.The presence of regolith (soils, sediments and weathered rock) can dramatically affect the level of ground shaking experienced during an earthquake. The relatively soft materials that constitute regolith tend to have low seismic velocities that amplify ground shaking during an earthquake, increasing the potential for damage to buildings and other infrastructure in the affected area. Therefore, models of the response of regolith to an earthquake (referred to as site response) form an integral part of any earthquake risk assessment.This report documents a preliminary study of potential ground motion amplification due to the regolith in the Botany area of Sydney, Australia. Botany was chosen due to the presence of a significant thickness of regolith and a high value and concentration of critical infrastructure. This report is intended to highlight the potential for significant levels of amplification within the study area, and draw attention to the need for more work on assessing the actual earthquake risk faced by the Sydney region.In order to determine the amount of ground motion amplification that could be seen in the Botany area, the regolith was classified into a series of four site classes. These regolith site classes are differentiated in terms of geotechnical properties that control ground shaking potential. This classification was based upon published and unpublished geotechnical data as well as seismic velocities obtained by Geoscience Australia. Once geotechnical models were defined for each regolith site class, amplification factors were calculated using a vertically propagating shear wave model. This model accounts for the softening and critical damping of the regolith column during large earthquakes. The results demonstrate that there is significant potential for amplification of ground shaking within the study area. For example, the site class that covers the vast majority of the study area has a maximum amplification factor greater than 3.0 at a fundamental site period of approximately 0.5 s. This period of motion would be expected to strongly affect the structures in the study area.The modelled amplification factors suggest that, should an earthquake impact the area, the potential for high levels of ground shaking would be dramatically increased due to the properties of the local regolith. An earthquake similar to the event experienced in Newcastle in 1989 was simulated, in order to demonstrate the potential amplification effect of the regolith during an earthquake. Whilst this simulation is in no way a full probabilistic risk analysis of the area, it does demonstrate that the amplification of ground shaking could cause response spectral accelerations in excess of 1.0 g, at periods of vibration that would be expected to cause damage to structures in the area.It is important to emphasise that this work is intended to provide a point of focus to initiate discussion rather than be a definitive seismic hazard assessment product. The results have been derived with limited geotechnical data, and without a detailed analysis of the uncertainties present within either the data or the modelling process. Nevertheless, this work does provide a starting point for recognising and addressing the potential risk that earthquakes pose to the study area.
Citation
Title Earthquake Ground Shaking Susceptibility of the Botany Area, New South Wales
publication  Date   2013
Series
Name Record
Issue 2013/026
cited responsible party - author
individual Name McPherson, A.
cited responsible party - author
individual Name Dhu, T.
cited responsible party - author
individual Name Jones, T.
cited responsible party - publisher
organisation Name  Geoscience Australia
Contact information
Address
, Canberra
Topic Category:  geoscientificInformation
Keywords
GA Publication
Record
Theme keywords (theme):
earthquakes
Keywords
Earth Sciences
thesaurus name >
Title Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
publication  Date   2008-03-31+11:00
ISBN 9780642483584
cited responsible party - owner
organisation Name  Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Contact information
Linkage for online resource
URL:http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/1297.0Main%20Features32008?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1297.0&issue=2008&num=&view=
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Process > Geologic Processes
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Resource Type > Document
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Method > Information Processing
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Property > Measure
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Material > Environmental Material
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Equipment > Instrument
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Science Domain > Earth Science
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Material > Chemical
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Marine Feature
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Environmental Feature
publication  Date   2017-01-19
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced at Thu Jan 19 04:29:37 UTC 2017
Resource language:  eng
Character set encoding of resource:  utf8
Resource Maintenance Information
maintenance or update frequency:  asNeeded
Constraints on resource usage:
Legal Constraints
Access Constraints  otherRestrictions
Other constraints
license
Constraints on resource usage:
Legal Constraints
use constraint:  license,otherRestrictions
Other constraints
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence
Constraints on resource usage:
Security Constraints
Classification  unclassified
Resource extent
Geographic Extent
Geographic Bounding Box
westBoundLongitude  150.0
eastBoundLongitude  151.5
northBoundLatitude  -33.0
southBoundLatitude  -34.0
point of contact - owner
organisation Name  Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
point of contact - custodian
organisation Name  Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Contact information
Telephone
Voice 02 6249 9966
Fax 02 6249 9960
Address
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh DrGPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601 Country Australia
electronic Mail Addresssales@ga.gov.au
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Scope of quality information
scope level  dataset
Resource lineage description
Lineage statement
Unknown

Resource distribution information

Distributor
distributor contact - distributor
organisation Name  Geoscience Australia
Contact information
Telephone
Voice +61 2 6249 9966
Fax +61 2 6249 9960
Address
GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601 Country Australia
electronic Mail Addresssales@ga.gov.au
Digital Transfer Options
Medium of distribution
medium Note onLine
Format
Format name docx
Format version Word 10
Format
Format name pdf
Format version 1.6
Digital Transfer Options
Linkage for online resource
name Rec2013_026.docx
URL:http://www.ga.gov.au/corporate_data/75265/Rec2013_026.docx
protocol WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
link function download
Description Download the file (docx) [11 MB]
Linkage for online resource
name Rec2013_026.pdf
URL:http://www.ga.gov.au/corporate_data/75265/Rec2013_026.pdf
protocol WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
link function download
Description Download the file (pdf) [13 MB]
Metadata data stamp:  2014-02-14
Metadata Constraints
Security Constraints
Classification  unclassified
Metadata contact - pointOfContact
organisation Name  Geoscience Australia
Contact information
Telephone
Voice +61 2 6249 9966
Fax +61 2 6249 9960
Address
GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601 Country Australia
electronic Mail Addresssales@ga.gov.au
Metadata scope code  nonGeographicDataset
Metadata hierarchy level name:  nonGeographicDataset - GA Publication - Record
Metadata language  eng
Metadata character set encoding:   utf8
Metadata standard for this record:  ANZLIC Metadata Profile: An Australian/New Zealand Profile of AS/NZS ISO 19115:2005, Geographic information - Metadata
standard version:  1.1
Metadata record identifier:  d4ed81b6-de0e-3105-e044-00144fdd4fa6
URI for dataset described: > http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/75265/

Metadata record format is ISO19139-2 XML (MI_Metadata)

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