Stochastic Deconvolution of Earthquake Motions

Abstract

An analytical procedure is presented for determining the statistical properties of seismic motions at points below the ground surface on the basis of statistical information available at the surface. This procedure closely parallels methods used to study the amplification and propagation of waves in layered soils. Application of the method to some rather simple wave models shows that the dominant wave components of actual recorded motions cannot, in general, be estimated on the basis of cross‐correlation analyses. The reason for this is that the averaging process involved in the computation of the coefficient of cross‐correlation emphasizes some phase velocities more than others.