An updated ground motion prediction equation (GMPE) for the horizontal component response spectral values from subduction zone earthquakes is developed using a global data set that includes 2,590 recordings from 63 slab earthquakes (5.0 ≤ M ≤7.9) and 953 recordings from 43 interface earthquakes (6.0 ≤ M ≤8.4) at distances up to 300 km. The empirical data constrain the moment magnitude scaling up to M8.0. For M > 8.0, a break in magnitude scaling is included in the model based on the magnitude scaling found in numerical simulations for interface earthquakes in Cascadia. The focal depth scaling of the short-period spectral values are strong for slab earthquakes, but it is not seen for interface events. The distance scaling is different for sites located in the forearc and backarc regions, with much steeper attenuation for backarc sites. The site is classified by V S30 with constrained nonlinear site amplification effects.

This paper presents the development of a ground-motion prediction model for small-to-moderate shallow crustal earthquakes (3M5.5, up to 200 km distance) using data from the California ShakeMap systems. Our goal is to provide an empirical model that can be confidently used in the investigation of ground-motion difference between California and other active tectonic regions (such as the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, Canada) where the bulk of ground-motion data from shallow crustal earthquakes is in the small-to-moderate magnitude range. This attenuation model is developed as a small-magnitude extension of the Chiou and Youngs NGA model (CY2008). We observe, and incorporate into this model, a regional difference in median amplitude between central and southern California earthquakes. The strength of the regional difference diminishes with increasing spectral period. More importantly, it is magnitude dependent and becomes insignificant for M6 earthquakes, as indicated by the large-magnitude California data used in CY2008. Together, these findings have important implications on the practice of utilizing the regional differences observed in small-to-moderate earthquakes to infer the regional differences expected in large earthquakes, including the NGA model applicability in active tectonic regions outside California.

A B S T R A C TStrategies to protect building occupants from the risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI) need to consider ventilation for its ability to dilute and remove indoor bioaerosols. Prior studies have described an association of increased self-reported colds and influenza-like symptoms with low ventilation but have not combined rigorous characterization of ventilation with assessment of laboratory confirmed infections. We report a study designed to fill this gap. We followed laboratory confirmed ARI rates and measured CO 2 concentrations for four months during the winter-spring of 2018 in two campus residence halls: (1) a high ventilation building (HVB) with a dedicated outdoor air system that supplies 100% of outside air to each dormitory room, and (2) a low ventilation building (LVB) that relies on infiltration as ventilation. We enrolled 11 volunteers for a total of 522 person-days in the HVB and 109 volunteers for 6069 person-days in the LVB, and tested upper-respiratory swabs from symptomatic cases and their close contacts for the presence of 44 pathogens using a molecular assay. We observed one ARI case in the HVB (0.70/person-year) and 47 in the LVB (2.83/person-year). Simultaneously, 154 CO 2 sensors distributed primarily in the dormitory rooms collected 668,390 useful data points from over 1 million recorded data points. Average and standard deviation of CO 2 concentrations were 1230 ppm and 408 ppm in the HVB, and 1492 ppm and 837 ppm in the LVB, respectively. Importantly, this study developed and calibrated multi-zone models for the HVB with 229 zones and 983 airflow paths, and for the LVB with 529 zones and 1836 airflow paths by using a subset of CO 2 data for model calibration. The models were used to calculate ventilation rates in the two buildings and potential for viral aerosol migration between rooms in the LVB. With doors and windows closed, the average ventilation rate was 12 L/s in the HVB dormitory rooms and 4 L/s in the LVB dormitory rooms. As a result, residents had on average 6.6 L/(s person) of outside air in the HVB and 2.3 L/(s person) in the LVB. LVB rooms located at the leeward side of the building had smaller average ventilation rates, as well as a somewhat higher ARI incidence rate and average CO 2 concentrations when compared to those values in the rooms located at the windward side of the building. Average ventilation rates in twenty LVB dormitory rooms increased from 2.3 L/s to 7.5 L/s by opening windows, 3.6 L/s by opening doors, and 8.8 L/s by opening both windows and doors. Therefore, opening both windows and doors in the LVB dormitory rooms can increase ventilation rates to the levels comparable to those in the HVB. But it can also have a negative effect on thermal comfort due to low outdoor temperatures. Simulation results identified an aerobiologic pathway from a room occupied by an index case of influenza A to a room occupied by a possible secondary case.

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A modified version of the spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) equipment and analysis procedure has been developed to determine in situ shear-wave velocity variation with depth from the ground surface. A microcomputer has been programmed to acquire waveform data and perform the relevant spectral analyses that were previously done by signal analyzers. Experimental dispersion for Rayleigh waves is now obtainable at a site and inverted with a fast algorithm for dispersion computation. Matching experimental and theoretical dispersion curves has been automated in an optimization routine that does not require intermittent operator intervention or experience in dispersion computation. Shear-wave velocity profiles measured by this procedure are compared with results from independent seismic cone penetration tests for selected sites in western Canada. Key words : surface wave, dispersion, inversion, optimization, shear-wave velocity.