Characteristics of strong ground motion attenuation in the 2019 Mw 5.8 Changning earthquake, Sichuan, China

Abstract

A moderate magnitude earthquake with Mw 5.8 occurred on June 17, 2019, in Changning County, Sichuan Province, China, causing 13 deaths, 226 injuries, and serious engineering damage. This earthquake induced heavier damage than earthquakes of similar magnitude. To explain this phenomenon in terms of ground motion characteristics, based on 58 sets of strong ground motions in this earthquake, the peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), acceleration response spectra (Sa), duration, and Arias intensity are analyzed. The results show that the PGA, PGV, and Sa are larger than the predicted values from some global ground motion models. The between-event residuals reveal that the source effects on the intermediate-period and long-period ground motions are stronger than those on short-period ground motions. Comparison of Arias intensity attenuation with the global models indicates that the energy of ground motions of the Changning earthquake is larger than those of earthquakes with the same magnitude.