Table Of ContentFurthre titsl eni thsi serie:s
(Volumes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9,10,136, 1and 26 are out of pri)n t
I. G. SANGLERA T - THE PENETROMETE R AND SOIL EXPLORATION
4. R. SILVESTER - COASTAL ENGINEERING, 1 and 2
8. L.N. PERSEN - ROCK DYNAMICS AND GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION,
Introductni oto Stress Waves ni Rocks
II. H.K. GUPTA AND B.K. RASTOGI - DAMS AND EARTHQUAKE S
12. F.H.CHEN - FOUNDATIONS ON EXPANSIVE SOILS
14. B.VOIGHT (Edit)o r- ROCKSLIDES AND AVALANCHES , 1 and 2
15. C. LOMNITZ AND E. ROSENBLUET H (Edito)r s- SEISMIC RISK AND ENGINEERING
DECISIONS
17. A.P.S.SELVADURAI - ELASTIC ANALYSIS OF SOIL-FOUNDATION INTERACTION
18. J. FEDA - STRESS IN SUBSOIL AND METHOD S OF FINAL SETTLEMENT
CALCULATION
19. Â. KÉZDI - STABILIZDE EARTH ROADS
20. E.W. BRAND AND R.P. BRENNER (Edito)r s- SOFT-CLAY ENGINEERING
21. A. MYSLIVEC AND Z. KYSELA - THE BEARING CAPACITY OF BUILDING
FOUNDATION S
22. R.N. CHOWDHUR Y - SLOPE ANALYSIS
23. P. BRUUN - STABILIYT OF TIDAL INLETS. Theoyr and Engineergi n
24. Æ. BAZANT - METHOD S OF FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
25. Â. KÉZDI - SOIL PHYSICS. Selectde Topisc
27. D.STEPHENSON - ROCKFILL IN HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
28. P.E. FRIVI,K N. JANBU, R. SAETERSDA L AND L.. IFINBORUD (Edito)r s- GROUN D
FREEZING 1980
29. P. PETER - CANAL AND RIVER LEVÉES
30. J. FEDA - MECHANICS OF PARTICULATE MATERIALS. The Principsl e
31. Q. ZÂRUBA AND V. MENCL - LANDSLIDES AND THEIR CONTROL . Second
completeyl revisd eeditni o
32. I..W FARMER (Edit)o r- STRATA MECHANICS
33. L. HOBST AND J. ZAJIC - ANCHORING IN ROCK AND SOIL. Second completey l
revisde editni o
34. G. SANGLERAT , G. OLIVARI AND B. CAMBO U - PRACTICAL PROBLEM S IN SOIL
MECHANIC S AND FOUNDATION ENGINEERING, 1 and 2
35. L. RÉTHÂTI - GROUNDWATE R IN CIVLI ENGINEERING
36. S.S. VYALOV - RHEOLOGICA L FUNDAMENTAL S OF SOIL MECHANICS
37. P. BRUUN (Edit)o r- DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTIO N OF MOUND S FOR
BREAKWATER S AND COASTAL PROTECTION
38. W.F. CHEN AND G.Y. BALADI - SOIL PLASTICITY. Theoyr and Implementatni o
39. ET. HANRAHA N - THE GEOTECTONIC S OF REAL MATERIALS. The E, E Method
g k
40. J. ALDORF AND K. EXNER - MINE OPENINGS. Stabily iatnd Support
41. J.E. GILLOTT - CLAY IN ENGINEERING GEOLOG Y
42 A.S. CAKMAK (Edit)o r- SOIL DYNAMICS AND LIQUEFACTION
43. A.S. CAKMAK (Edit)o r- SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION
45. A.S. CAKMAK (Edit)o r- STRUCTURE S AND STOCHASTIC METHOD S
DEVELOPMENTS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 44
GROUN D
MOTIO N AND
ENGINEERIN G
SEISMOLOG Y
Edite dby
A.S. CAKMA K
Departmen to fCiv iElngineeri ngP,rincet onUniversi tPyr,incet onN,J .08544 ,U.S.A.
ELSEVIER
Amsterdam - Oxford - New York - Tokyo 1987
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Ground Motino and engineergi nseismolog.y
1. Soil mechanisc 2. Rock mechanisc
I.Cakmak, A.S.
624.1'531 TA710
ISBN 0-905451-899 -
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PREFAC E
The Earthquea kEngineergi nCommuniyt has a logn way to go, as despei t
advancse ni teh fide lof Geotechnil cEaarthquea kEngineeri, nygera aftr eyera
earthquask econtien uto caues loss of lie fand propeyr tand leaev contindu e
human sufferg inni ther iwake ni one patr of teh wordl or anoth.e r
W e hope to provie dteh Earthquea kEngineergi nCommuniyt wiht a formu
to hepl develp ofurtrh etechniqs ueand methosd throuh gteh exchane gof
scientci fiidesa and innovate ivapproacsh eni Soli Dynamisc and Earthquea k
Engineeri,n gby means of ths ivoluem and ist companino volume. sThsi
volume coves rteh followgi ntopi:c sSeismicy itand Tectonsi cni teh Eastne r
Mediterrane, anSeismc iWaves ni Sois land Geophysilc aMethod,s
Engineergi nSeismolo,g yDynamic Methosd ni Soli and Rock Mechanis cand
Ground Motino and contasi neditd epapes rselecdt efrmo thoes presendt eat
the 3dr Internatil oCnoanfereen con Soli Dynamisc and Earthquea k
Engineeri,n ghedl at Princent oUniversi, tPyrincet, onNew Jerse, yUSA, June
22-24, 198.7
The editr owishse to expres ssincee rthans kto teh authos rwho have sharde
theri experte isto enhanec teh roel of mechanis cand othre disciplsi nase thye
relae tto earthquea kengineer.i ng
The editr oalos wishse to acknowleed gteh adi and suppot rof Computatioln a
Mechanisc Publicati, onSsouthampt,o nEnglan, dteh Nationl aCentre fro
Earthquae kEngineergi nResear,c hSUNY, Buffa,l oNY, and Princent o
Universi, tyni makign ths iconfereen ca reali.t y
A.S. Cakmak
June 1987
Geotectonsi cand Earthquaek Rissk in Jordna
Y.M. Masannta
Departme nt o fCiv ilEngineeri ng,Univers itoy fJorda n,Amman , Jordan
INTRODUCTION
Interest in earthquake engineering has just started
recently in Jordan due mainly to the scarcity of
large size structures and lack of specialists in
this field. Special emphasis on the seismicity of
Jordan began with the commencement of works in
Khalid Bin El-toalid Dam on Yarmouk River in 196 6
and in King Talal Dam on Zerqa River in 1972 . With
the increasing number of highway projects, dams,
and multi-storey structures being built at loca-
tions close to the Jordan Valley there has been a
growing awareness of the significance of seismic
parameters in the design of such structures. In
I983 the Natural Resources Authority established
the first Jordan Seismological Observatory in
cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey arid the
U.S. Agency for International Development. A
network of 8 seismic stations is presently opera-
tional in Jordan extending from Makawir in the
south to Jerash in the north. The network is presen-
tly expanded to thirty stations which are expected to
be operational by the end of 1987 (El-Kaysi1).
Most of Jordan is placed in Zone A of the Building
Research Establishment Overseas Division^ seismic
risk maps (Figure l)· This zone includes areas in
which MM intensity VII or greater earthquakes could
occur within the lifetime of permanent buildings.
It is the objective of this paper to discuss
the effects of regional geology and tectonism on
the seismicity of Jordan, and to emphasize the
importance of local geology in seismic zoning as
well as in establishing the seismic design criteria
for major structures. Various earthquake-related
instability features are also discussed where
3
Figure 1· Regional stress direction and seismic
zoning.
5
further research work is suggested.
GEOLOGY AND TECTOΝ ISM
Wetzel and Morton (Bender ) referred the formation
of the Wadi Araba-Jordan Graben to repeated sub-
sidence since the Cretaceous whereby marginal
fault zones emphasized the character of a "graben
de subsidence". Bender^ adopted this hypothesis
and considered it more adequate than the assump-
tion of a post -Cretaceous left hand shear of more
than 100 km in explaining the anomalies in geolo-
gical features across the Jordan Rift. However,
most scientists now accept the hypothesis of the
multi-stage northward lateral shear displacement of
the Arabian plate by 70 to 110 km with respect to
the Palestine-Sinai plate(Figure l). Some scien-
tists believe in the combination of vertical and
horizontal tectonics to explain the development of
the Jordan Rift and the off-settings in the
geological and geomorphological features on its
both sides. The left-lateral shear along the Dead
Sea Rift is associated with displacements on
enchelon strike-slip faults. These resulted in the
development of basins or depressions (^uennell )
delimited by steep normal faults which bound the
Dead Sea and Jordan River Rifts on both sides. The
Dead Sea is the greatest of these depressions and
is bordered from the west and east by the Jericho
and Araba strike-slip faults (Ben-Menahem ).
The geological data and the seismic record of
the earthquakes strongly suggest that the Dead Sea
Jordan Rift which extends from the Red Sea in the
south to the Taurus-Zagros mountainous range in the
north (Figure l) is the major source of earthquakes
in the region. The Jordan Rift represents a major
tectonic zone between the Palestine-Sinai plate in
the north-west and the Arabian plate in the south-
east. The development of this depression and its
tectonic activity are related to the rotational
movement of the Arabian plate towards the north-
east, the widening up of the Red Sea, and the
spreading of the floor of the Arab Sea. These
movements are associated with the development of
high in situ SE-NW stresses. These stresses keep
the crustal rocks along the Wadi Araba-Dead Sea
shear zone in a critical state, and thus a poten-
tial source of future earthquakes. These stresses
could thus be considered responsible for the
development of many of the geological and
geomorphological features along both sides of the
Jordan Valley viz. strike-slip and normal faults,
6
local and regional uplift and subsidence, and the
compressional structural belts in the East Bank of
Jordan(Figure 2 )· Mikbel indicated that South
Figure 2. Modified proposal of seismic intensity
zoning map of Central and North Jordan
(Mikbel, 1985)
Amman, for example, is located on the Amman-
Hallabat compressional structural belt that extends
from Siyagha on the north-east corner of the Dead
Sea to Qasr El-Hallabat in the east of Jordan. He
referred the higher geomorphological and topog-
raphic levels of South Amman to the culmination of
rock's successions along the ENE-VSW trending axes
of these déformâtional belts. The author? has
pointed to the characteristic unstable
geomorphological and structural features of South
Amman which change rapidly into more stable
features within just few hundred meters to the
south -east. The author^ has also recommended, in
his study of Jofeh landslide, that the seismicity
of the area be given a proper consideration when
establishing the design criteria of the contem-
plaled stabilization works.
7
SEISMICITY OF JORDAN
Earthquake prediction has received the attention of
the scientists since a long time and still repre-
sents their major concern. The observation of
changes in the electrical resistivity of rocks,
fluctuation of water level in wells, variations in
the rates of vertical and horizontal ground dis-
placements in given locations, as well as
abnormal changes in the behavior of animals are
some of the tools being used by some scientists
for earthquake prediction. However, experience
shows that there is still no single method that
can be relied upon to predict the occurrence of an
earthquake with an acceptable degree of certainty
that could help in taking emergency measures in
advance to mitigate the catastrophic effects of
strong earthquakes.
Thus, the long-term observation of the
seismic activity in a given region as well as
better understanding of the interrelationship
between the geological setting and the tectonic
activity represent currently the best available
method for the assessment of earthquakes' risks.
El-Kaysi"^ indicated that during the period
from September 1983 till September 1986, 2704
possible seismic events were recorded where approx-
imately 88 percent of them were of magnitude 3·0 or
less. Five felt events were recorded in 1984 and
I985 as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Major earthquakes recently felt
in Jordan
Date Magni tude Locat ion
August 24,1984 5.2 Haifa area
Octoberl8,1984 4.7 Tiberius area
January25,1985 4.7 Near Jericho
December31,1985 4.6 North of Gulf
of Aqaba
December31,1985 4-9 North of Gulf
of Aqaba
Most of the earthquakes (78 percent) had a
focal depth less than 10 km, and only 7 percent
had a focal depth greater than 20km. Three years of
earthquake monitoring in Jordan (El-Kaysi^-)
indicate that the East Bank of Jordan is signifi-
cantly more active tectonically than the West Bank
and that the epicenters of the recorded local
events are concentrated along fault systems that
8
are prédominâtly normal to the Jordan Valley.
Figure 3 shows the faulting pattern in
central and North Jordan, the locations of the
newly installed seismic stations, the approximate
epicenters of earthquakes, and the major landslides
along the highways.
2
According to Woodward-Clyde Consultants at
least five earthquakes within the 4000 year
historical record have maximum estimated inten-
sities of MM IX. These earthquakes occured in the
years 1033, 106,8 154,6 1837 and 1927. According
to Ben-Menahem10 the catalogue of historical
earthquakes for the Dead Sea Fault System between
2350 B.C. and 1980 A.D. contains 17 events with
estimated magnitudes between 6.4 and 7··3 The
July 11, 1927 earthquake was of an estimated
magnitude on Richter Scale, and was located
about 5 km east of Jericho according to Nur and
Reches^, This earthquake caused the collapse of
many old buildings especially in the town of Salt,
about 14 km from the Jordan Valley. Geologic
evidence suggests that the Jordan Valley and
associated active faults on both sides form the
potential sources for such earthquakes.
9
Woodward-Clyde Consultants conducted an
extensive study for the evaluation of the seis-
micity of the area of the domestic water projects
in Central and North Jordan which include the
Jordan Valley and the northern highlands east of
the Jordan Valley. They concluded that 1 earth-
quake with magnitude 6^ every 100 years and 1
earthquake with magnitude 7i every 500 years are
reasonable estimates for the operating and
contingency-level earthquakes, respectively. The
operating and contingency-level earthquakes were
defined as those having 10 percent and 5 0 percent
probability of occurrence within the lifetime of
the facility (50 years), respectively. The
magnitude-recurrence relationship used by them
was :
logN = 4.6 - 07. M
where Ν is the number of earthquakes of magnitude
M or greater occurring per 100 years. By plotting
the mapped and inferred fault lengths given by Ben-
Menahem et.al 12 for the Dead Sea fault on Tocher
and Patwardhan'graph of the relationship
between fault rupture area and earthquake magnitude
Woodward-Clyde Consultants^ concluded that a
magnitude 7 earthquake is probably the maximum
