Preliminary Analysis of Strong Motion Data from Nepal Earthquake - An Input for Structural Designing

Strong ground motion records of an earthquake provide the basic information for evaluation of seismic hazard of an area in order to reduce the considerable loss to life and property. It is an important input for earthquake engineering for perfect designing practices so that the structures can withstand maximum possible shaking. Several earthquake characteristics are studied for qualitative evaluation of seismic hazard of an area. These cover characteristics such as Epicentral distance, Peak ground acceleration and site conditions. Analysing average spectral response on the basis of these characteristics shows three major factors such as strong ground motion source, path and site effects. Further, the comparison of average response spectra with existing BIS code shows the current Indian code is applicable for the entire country is well within the structural limits proposed for the seismic forces at all periods for alluvium sites. If the buildings are designed as per the norms given by the BIS (2002), then a considerable amount of loss in terms of life and property can be reduced.