Strong motion observations and recordings from the great Wenchuan Earthquake

• Published in: Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 235 - 246
• Main Authors: Li, Xiaojun, Zhou, Zhenghua, Yu, Haiyin, Wen, Ruizhi, Lu, Dawei, Huang, Moh, Zhou, Yongnian, Cu, Jianwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration 01.09.2008; Springer Nature B.V; Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin 150080, China%National Earthquake Infrastructure Service, Beijing, China%California Geological Survey, Sacramento, USA%Yunnan Provincial Earthquake Administration, Kunming, China
• Subjects: Civil Engineering; Control; Dynamical Systems; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earthquake damage; Earthquakes; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Ground motion; Seismic activity; Seismology; Structural engineering; Vibration; China, People's Rep; strong motion observation network; mobile observation; PGA; strong motion record; Wenchuan Earthquake; observation array
• ISSN: 1671-3664; 1993-503X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11803-008-0892-x

The National Strong Motion Observation Network System (NSMONS) of China is briefly introduced in this paper. The NSMONS consists of permanent free-field stations, special observation arrays, mobile observatories and a network management system. During the Wenchuan Earthquake, over 1,400 components of acceleration records were obtained from 460 permanent free-field stations and three arrays for topographical effect and structural response observation in the network system from the main shock, and over 20,000 components of acceleration records from strong aftershocks occurred before August 1, 2008 were also obtained by permanent free-field stations of the NSMONS and 59 mobile instruments quickly deployed after the main shock. The strong motion recordings from the main shock and strong aftershocks are summarized in this paper. In the ground motion recordings, there are over 560 components with peak ground acceleration (PGA) over 10 Gal, the largest being 957.7 Gal. The largest PGA recorded during the aftershock exceeds 300 Gal.