USGS Open-File Report 2014–1196: Report on Workshop to Incorporate Basin Response in the Design of Tall Buildings in the Puget Sound Region, Washington

Report on Workshop to Incorporate Basin Response in the Design of Tall Buildings in the Puget Sound Region, Washington

By Susan W. Chang, Arthur D. Frankel, and Craig S. Weaver

Introduction

On March 4, 2013, the City of Seattle and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) convened a workshop of 25 engineers and seismologists to provide recommendations to the City for the incorporation of amplification of earthquake ground shaking by the Seattle sedimentary basin in the design of tall buildings in Seattle. The workshop was initiated and organized by Susan Chang, a geotechnical engineer with the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development, along with Art Frankel and Craig Weaver of the USGS. C.B. Crouse of URS Corporation, Seattle made key suggestions for the agenda. The USGS provided travel support for most of the out-of-town participants.

The agenda and invited attendees are given in the appendix. The attendees included geotechnical and structural engineers working in Seattle, engineers with experience utilizing basin response factors in other regions, and seismologists who have studied basin response in a variety of locations. In this report, we summarize the technical presentations and the recommendations from the workshop.

First posted September 23, 2014

Report PDF (3 MB)

For additional information, contact:
Earthquake Science Center—Seattle, Washington Field Office
U.S. Geological Survey
Dept. Earth & Space Sciences
University of Washington, Box 351310
Seattle, WA 98195-1310
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

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Suggested citation:

Chang, S.W., Frankel, A.D., and Weaver, C.S., 2014, Report on Workshop to Incorporate Basin Response in the Design of Tall Buildings in the Puget Sound region, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report 2014–1196, 28 p. https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141196.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Contents

Introduction

Presentations

Discussion

Recommendations by the Workshop Participants for the Seattle Basin

Acknowledgments

References Cited

Appendix