EERI British Columbia Regional Chapter presents

NBCC 2015: PROPOSED NEW EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTIONS

Based on Canadas 5th Generation seismic hazard model and the 2015 Canadian National
Seismic Hazard Maps

Wednesday, November 5th 2014 @ 7:00 pm (Doors 6:30 pm)

Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch

Speakers:

John Adams, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa jadams@nrcan.gc.ca and Chair, Ground
Motions Working Group of the Standing Committee on Earthquake Design

Gail M. Atkinson, Western University, London, gmatkinson@aol.com and Member,

Ground Motions Working Group of the Standing Committee on Earthquake Design

Canadas 5th Generation seismic hazard model has been created for adoption by the 2015 National
Building Code of Canada (NBCC2015). The model takes advantage of newer knowledge and
replaces the 4th Generation models used for NBCC 2010.

Ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) and their epistemic uncertainty are a key input to
seismic hazard assessments, because the GMPEs specify the expected ground-shaking amplitudes
as a function of magnitude and distance. For 2015 NBCC, a new GMPE approach represents a
major advance over GMPEs used for the 4th Generation seismic hazard model. This will be
discussed by Gail Atkinson.

Seismic design values (on Soil Class C at Vs30=450 m/s) for PGA, PGV and Sa(T) for T = 0.2, 0.5,
1.0, 2.0, 5.0, and 10.0 s will be used in NBCC2015. New soil factors are proposed for NBCC2015.
Fa and Fv used in NBCC2010 are replaced by F(T) factors, together with equivalent factors
F(PGA) and F(PGV). The period-dependent factors, which vary with intensity of shaking, PGAref,
allow better estimation of the expected shaking on sites other than Class C. Seismic hazard results
(with a focus on SW BC) and key differences from NBCC2010 will be discussed by John Adams.

Bio: Dr. John Adams - Geological Survey of Canada, Natural

Resources Canada

John Adams graduated with a PhD in Geology from Victoria

University of Wellington, New Zealand in 1978 and has been
employed by the Geological Survey of Canada for 34 years,
being involved with all aspects of the earthquake program. He
has been the lead seismologist in the development of the seismic
hazard maps used in the latest editions of the National Building Code of Canada, and chairs the
Ground Motions Working Group of the Standing Committee on Earthquake Design that recently
finalized the maps intended for the 2015 Code. In addition, he participates in various Canadian
Standards Association committees dealing with earthquake provisions to critical structures such as
nuclear power plants, is involved with the regulatory assessment of seismic hazard reports for
important facilities, such as nuclear power plants, LNG plants, dams, and pipelines.

Bio: Gail Atkinson, Professor of Geophysics at University of Western Ontario

Gail has devoted her career to working at the
engineering-seismology interface. She has authored
200 research articles on the subjects of earthquake
ground motions and seismic hazards; among these are
well-known prediction equations for ground-motion
amplitudes as a function of magnitude and distance
that have been used earthquake hazard and risk
assessments around the world. She has been
responsible for seismic hazard analyses for dozens of
major engineering projects, and participates in
committees responsible for developing seismic design
regulations for buildings and critical structures such as
dams and nuclear power plants. Professor Atkinson
has been a member of both the Seismological Society
of America and the Earthquake Engineering Research
Institute for over 25 years. She served on the Board
of Directors of the Seismological Society of America
for over a decade, culminating with a term as President from 2001-2003.