Site Specific Ground Motion Modeling and Seismic Response Analysis for Microzonation of Baku, Azerbaijan

We investigated ground response for Baku (Azerbaijan) from two earthquakes of magnitude M 6.3 occurred in Caspian Sea (characterized as a near event) and M 7.5 in Shamakhi (characterized as a remote extreme event). S -wave velocity with the average shear wave velocity over the topmost 30 m of soil is obtained by experimental method from the V P values measured for the soils. The downtown part of Baku city is characterized by low V S 30 values (< 250 m/s), related to sand, water-saturated sand, gravel-pebble, and limestone with clay. High surface PGA of 240 gal for the M 7.5 event and of about 190 gal for the M 6.3 event, and hence a high ground motion amplification, is observed in the shoreline area, through downtown, in the north-west, and in the east parts of Baku city with soft clays, loamy sands, gravel, sediments.