2D NONLINEAR SEISMIC GROUND ANALYSIS BY FEM-BEM: THE CASE OF KOBE IN THE HYOGO-KEN NANBU EARTHQUAKE

The Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake (Jan. 17, 1995) caused devastating damages in and around Kobe city. Noteworthy is the fact that the heaviest damages of JMA intensity 7 were centered in the so-called “disaster belt zone” along the coast. The authors, focusing on the geological features in a north-south section of Kobe, have performed the computer simulation for the 2-dimensional in-plane seismic (P and SV) wave propagation based on the FEM-BEM hybrid modeling. The nonlinear soil behavior was emphasized to better interpret the soft alluvium amplification that depends on the given distribution of soil properties in Kobe.