Building Seismic Safety Council (1997) National earthquake hazard reduction program (NEHRP) recommended provisions for seismic regulations for new buildings and other structures. Part 1: Provisions (FEMA 302). Building Seismic Safety Council, Washington, DC.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Questioning the applicability of soil amplification factors as defined by NEHRP (USA) in the Israel building standards

  AUTHORS: Yuli Zaslavsky, Avi Shapira, Marina Gorstein, Nahum Perelman, Galina Ataev, Tatiana Aksinenko

  KEYWORDS: Site Effect; VS, 30; Site Classification; Site Coefficient Fa; and Fv

  JOURNAL NAME: Natural Science, Vol.4 No.8A, August 14, 2012

  ABSTRACT: In this study we examined the applicability of the NEHRP soil classification which is based on the VS,30 parameter and the corresponding Fa and Fv factors to correct acceleration response spectra for local site classification. We calculated acceleration response spectra (10% in 50 years) for more than 1900 sites across Israel. Computations were made for hard rock conditions and for the actual site conditions, while considering nonlinear response of the soils. Based on synthetic acceleration response spectra of real sites (using stochastic procedures), it is concluded that generalizing site classification and consequently, amplification, by means of a single parameter VS, 30 is not recommended. The geology of Israel is complex and may vary significantly over short distances. Sites of similar class, show different soil effects both in shape, amplitude and in frequency. In many cases there is no correlation between amplification and VS, and in other cases, the scatter is unacceptably high.