Elastic finite-difference modeling of strong motion in Ashigara Valley for the 1990 Odawara, Japan, earthquake

Abstract Finite-difference seismograms are calculated for the 1990 Odawara earthquake to model transverse and radial components of strong-motion data. Using a basin structure derived from a geotechnical survey and double-couple solution determined from P first-motion data and SH/SV amplitude ratio, two-dimensional SH and P/SV finite-difference calculation, along with correction for soft surface layers, reproduces the observed spatial variation in amplitude and waveform of the transverse and radial records at the Ashigara Valley blind prediction sites for frequencies up to 2 Hz. Comparison of the synthetic and the observed seismograms suggests that the observed spatial variation in the SH amplitude is attributed to the source radiation and amplification due to the soft surface layers, while the SV amplitude variation is controlled by the amplification due to the sedimentary basin as well as the source and surface-layer effects.