Çanakkale Basin Strong Ground Motion Network

Çanakkale region is under the influence of the western extension of the strike-slip North Anatolian Fault in the north and active faults with different mechanisms in the south and east. Çanakkale city center is located on a Quaternary alluvial deposit with a depth of up to 100 m. Shear wave velocities are quite low (<350 m/s) and shallow drillings could not reach to bedrock. Although there are no active faults that will cause major earthquakes in the immediate vicinity of the city center, it is possible that seismic motions from distant earthquakes may increase the earthquake demand of structures on the Çanakkale basin. Hence, understanding the behavior of seismic waves in the Çanakkale basin is an important step in the assessment of earthquake hazard. In this context, a 9-station accelerometric network has been deployed in the city. 4 out of 9 stations are located on the drilled boreholes which are conducted within the TÜBITAK-1001 project “Development of corresponding methods, coefficients and maps for including the bedrock depth and basin effect into the design response spectra obtained from Earthquake Design Codes and seismic site response analyses”. Within the scope of this study, recordings of the network have been used to calculate site characteristics underneath the stations. Possible basin effect is sought.