Sun, C.-G. et al. (2018) Géotechnique Letters 8, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.17.

00108

Assessment of new Korean site classification and

design response spectra
C.-G. SUN*, H.-I CHO{, H.-S. KIM{ and D.-S. KIM§

A site classification scheme and design response spectra (DRS) were implemented in July 2017 as a
part of new minimum requirements for general seismic design in Korea. However, verification using the
2016 Gyeongju earthquake, the largest earthquake in the history of instrumental seismic observation in
Korea, was not conducted due to the schedule limitations of the public hearing process. In this study,
site classification schemes and corresponding DRS curves were compared with the 2016 Gyeongju
earthquake records to assess the superiority of the new code compared with other Korean seismic
design codes. Seismic stations were categorised into relevant site class according to each seismic
design code based on the subsurface geotechnical information at the stations, and the earthquake
records were gathered depending on the site class. Finally, response spectra were converted and
compared with the corresponding DRS curve given by each seismic design code. The comparisons
reveal that the classification scheme and DRS included in the new Korean requirements accurately
reflect as-measured conditions and yield more reliable results than other Korean codes.

KEYWORDS: design; earthquakes; seismicity

ICE Publishing: all rights reserved

NOTATION well as 32 human injuries, amounted to US$20·8 million

g acceleration due to gravity
H depth of bedrock
M earthquake magnitude
ML Richter magnitude scale
VS shear wave velocity
VS,30 time-average shear wave velocity of top 30 m of site profile
VS,Soil time-average shear wave velocity of soil above the bedrock
σ standard deviation
INTRODUCTION
Although the Korean peninsula is considered tectonically
stable (Chang et al., 2010), tens of weak-to-intermediate
earthquakes (typically of a Richter scale magnitude ML less
than 3, and intermittently as high as ML
5) are observed
annually in and adjacent to the region (KMA, 2008).
However, on 12 September 2016, Korea experienced its
largest magnitude earthquake since government monitoring
of seismic activity began in 1978. This event consisted of
two earthquakes, measuring ML 5·1 and 5·8, 48 min apart,
near the city of Gyeongju, in the southeast of the Korean
Peninsula (Fig. 1). As of late August 2017, more than
600 aftershocks in excess of ML 1·5 have occurred (KMA,
2017), with the largest aftershock of ML 4·5 occurring
on 19 September 2016. The Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial
government determined that property damage resulting from
these events, consisting of some 4900 damaged buildings, as
Manuscript received 31 August 2017; first decision 31 January
2018; accepted 31 January 2018.
*Earthquake Research Center, KIGAM, Daejeon, Korea
(Orcid:0000-0003-1689-6975).
{Earthquake Research Center, KIGAM, Daejeon, Korea
(Orcid:0000-0003-1401-8028).
{Earthquake Research Center, KIGAM, Daejeon, Korea
(Orcid:0000-0002-2940-8478).
§Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST,
Daejeon, Korea (Orcid:0000-0003-4445-682X).
(Choi et al., 2016).
Earthquake ground motion, transmitted to the ground
surface, is responsible for structural damage and is pre-
dominantly influenced by local site conditions, such as soil
deposits. This influence constitutes one of the key issues in
geotechnical earthquake engineering practice. Local soil
deposits either amplify or attenuate seismic energy that
reaches the ground surface, directly affecting the response of
structures during an earthquake event. The 1985 Mexico
City earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake both
provided abundant evidence of local site amplification (Seed
et al., 1988; Borcherdt & Glassmoyer, 1992). To quantify
local site effects, the response spectrum method, based on
site classification defined in seismic design codes, is widely
used worldwide.
The new Korean site classification scheme and design
response spectra (DRS) were developed in 2016 based on
Korean geological conditions to produce reliable estimates
of earthquake ground motion (Manandhar et al., 2017).
These new code provisions were implemented in July 2017 by
the Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS, 2017)
with modifications to address concerns raised during the
public hearing process. However, due to the schedule of
the public hearing process, to date, no verification of these
code provisions has been undertaken using records from the
Gyeongju earthquake, which represents the largest earth-
quake in the history of Korean instrumental seismic
observation.
In this study, the stipulations of the new Korean seismic
code are compared with the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake
records to assess their efficacy, and compared with the results
of two other Korean seismic design codes.
SITE CLASSIFICATION SCHEME AND DRS IN KOREAN
SEISMIC DESIGN CODES
The requirements of MPSS (2017) were introduced to
establish minimum criteria for general seismic design in
Korea. Prior to the publication of these requirements,

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 2 Sun, Cho, Kim and Kim
H > 20 m are sub-divided into two classes with VS,Soil equal
to 180 m/s.

NETWORKS OF SEISMIC OBSERVATORY STATIONS

IN KOREA
The 2016 Gyeongju earthquake records were obtained from
the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources
(KIGAM) and Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA)
seismic networks. Seismic stations in these networks are dis-
tributed generally uniformly across South Korea, as shown in
Fig. 1. The KMA stations are installed without consideration
of subsurface conditions, while all 42 KIGAM stations
are installed on rock outcrops. The VS-profiles of 38 KMA
stations installed on the ground surface were obtained through
field seismic testing, recently (Sun et al., 2016). Based on this
information, the site characteristics at 42 KIGAM and
38 KMA seismic stations are classified as shown in Table 2.

COMPARISON OF THE 2016 GYEONGJU

EARTHQUAKE RECORDS AND KOREAN SIESMIC
CODES
The 2016 Gyeongju earthquake events, described in Table 3,
Fig. 1. Epicentres of 2016 Gyeongju earthquakes and distri- having epicentres located is shown in Fig. 1. Acceleration time
bution of seismic stations histories recorded during these events were converted into
response spectra. Only acceleration time histories with a
seismic design loads were determined by different methods
depending on the subject facility. To make this process more Table 1. Comparison of site classification schemes in three
uniform, the Act on the Preparation for Earthquakes and seismic design codes in Korea
Volcanic Eruptions was enacted in 2013, resulting in the
establishment of minimum code requirements. The three Design code Site Criteria for classification
design codes compared in this study are class
Parameters Criteria
(a) MOCT (Ministry of Construction and Transportation)
MOCT SA VS,30: m/s >1500
(1997) (1997) SB 760–1500
(b) KBC (Korean Building Code), 2016 (AIK, 2016) SC 360–760
(c) MPSS (Ministry of Public Safety and Security) (2017) SD 180–360
SE <180
MOCT (1997) was introduced in the aftermath of the 1995 KBC SA VS,30: m/s >1500
Great Hanshin earthquake in Japan, and is largely based on (AIK, 2016) SB 760–1500
the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program SC VS,Soil* or 360–760 ≥20
(NEHRP) provisions (BSSC, 1997). Although not enacted SC+ VS,30: m/s <20
by law, MOCT (1997) has provided the minimum require- SD with H†: m 180–360 ≥20
SD+ <20
ments for seismic design in Korea for the last two decades, SE VS,Soil or <180
and has been extensively utilised in civil engineering practice. VS,30: m/s
The KBC has been continuously updated on the basis of the MPSS S1 H: m with <1 —
International Building Code (IBC); an updated edition was (2017) S2 VS,Soil: m/s 1–20 ≥260
last issued in 2016, revising the 2009 edition. S3 1–20 <260
The site classification schemes dictated by each code are S4 >20 ≥180
provided in Table 1. MOCT (1997) and KBC (AIK, 2016) S5 >20 <180
provide site classes from SA to SE, similar to BSSC (1997)
Excluded site classes that require ‘site-specific response analysis’.
and IBC 2015 (ICC, 2015). However, the parameters for
*Use of bedrock, which shows VS >760 m/s, is located <5 m or
classification differ between the two codes. Unlike MOCT >30 m from the surface.
(1997), which utilises only the time-average shear wave †Bedrock depth.
velocity of the top 30 m of site profile (VS,30), KBC (AIK,
2016) evaluates VS,Soil together with VS,30, depending on
Table 2. Comparison of site conditions of KIGAM and KMA
the bedrock depth (H ). If the H < 5 m or H > 30 m, the seismic stations
code utilises VS,30, otherwise it utilises VS,Soil. Additionally,
if H at an evaluated site, classified as SC or SD using the Seismic Description MOCT KBC MPSS
corresponding VS, is less than 20 m, the site is additionally networks (1997) (AIK, 2016) (2017)
classified by SC+ or SD+. MPSS (2017) uses two parameters,
H and VS,Soil, for all site classes, as these two factors are the KIGAM Rock outcrop SB SB S1
primary influences on site amplification (Rodriguez-Marek KMA Rock outcrop SB SB S1
et al., 2001), especially in a shallow bedrock region such as or soil sites SC SC S2
SD SC+ S3
Korea. The 20 m limit of H is the basic parameter for — SD S4
classification. Sites with H ≤ 20 m are sub-divided into two — SD+ —
classes using a value of 260 m/s for VS,Soil, while sites with

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Assessment of new korean site classification and design response spectra 3
Table 3. Information on the 2016 major Gyeongju earthquakes

Date and time of occurrence (KST) Epicentre Depth: km Magnitude (ML)

Latitude Longitude
Foreshock: 19:44:33, 12 September 2016 35·7697 129·1904 15·0 5·1
Mainshock: 20:32:54, 12 September 2016 35·7632 129·1898 14·1 5·8
Aftershock: 20:33:59, 19 September 2016 35·7444 129·1805 15·5 4·5

signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than 5 were selected

in order to obtain a high-quality data set. After baseline
4 Average+1sigma EW
correction, the data set was band-pass filtered in
the 0·1–25 Hz frequency band, reducing both low- and
Normalised spectral acceleration

Average+1sigma NS
Average+1sigma SRSS
high-frequency noise of signals acquired with 100 Hz of
3
Average+1sigma GM
sample rate. The response spectra were then transformed using
DRS MOCT KBC SB
the data from the horizontal components in the east west and
DRS MPSS S1
north south directions. The square root of the sum of the
2 squares (SRSS) and the geometric mean (GM) response
spectra were determined using the directional response spectra
in order to exclude the effect of measurement direction as all
1 three codes are strongly related to ASCE 7-5 (ASCE, 2005).
Because the measured intensity of ground motion varies
depending on the epicentral distance of each seismic station,
0 the converted response spectra were normalised by each
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
spectral acceleration at 0 s in order to remove the distortion
Period, T: s
effects of intensity. A set of four normalised response spectra
Fig. 2. Comparisons of seismic response from KIGAM stations
(EW, NS, SRSS and GM) from a given station was sorted
with DRS and integrated with sets from the other stations classified
into the same site class according to three evaluated seismic
design codes, tabulated in Table 2. The mean and standard

5 5
MOCT average+1sigma EW MOCT average+1sigma EW
Normalised spectral acceleration
Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS MOCT average+1sigma NS

4 4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM MOCT average+1sigma GM
3 3
DRS MOCT SB DRS MOCT SC

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(a) (b)

5
MOCT average+1sigma EW
Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS
4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM
3
DRS MOCT SD

0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s
(c)

Fig. 3. Comparisons of seismic response from KMA stations with DRS of MOCT (1997): (a) site class SB; (b) site class SC;
(c) site class SD

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 4 Sun, Cho, Kim and Kim
5 5
MOCT average+1sigma EW MOCT average+1sigma EW
Normalised spectral acceleration

Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS MOCT average+1sigma NS
4 4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM MOCT average+1sigma GM
3 3
DRS KBC SB DRS KBC SC

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(a) (b)

5 5
MOCT average+1sigma EW MOCT average+1sigma EW

Normalised spectral acceleration

Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS MOCT average+1sigma NS

4 4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM MOCT average+1sigma GM
3 3
DRS KBC SC+ DRS KBC SD

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(c) (d)
5
MOCT average+1sigma EW
Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS
4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM
3
DRS KBC SD+

0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s
(e)

Fig. 4. Comparisons of seismic response from KMA stations with DRS of KBC (AIK, 2016): (a) site class SB; (b) site class SC; (c) site
class SC+; (d) site class SD; (e) site class SD+

deviation (σ) of the four integrated normalised response are installed on rock outcrops, were classified in the rock site
spectra in the same site class were calculated arithmetically class. The MOCT (1997) and KBC (AIK, 2016), which
using equally spaced intervals of X and Yaxes, and the mean provide an identical DRS for site class SB, do not adequately
+1 σ response spectra of the four normalised response cover the amplification for short-period regions below 0·4 s,
spectra were compared with the DRS curves for each site while the MPSS (2017) does. To quantitatively compare
class, which were also normalised by the design earthquake the DRS with response spectra from recorded motions, the
intensity. Since the DRS curves in three codes correspond degree of excessive spectral acceleration (SAExcessive) over the
to the mean +1 σ response spectra following NEHRP DRS was integrated as follows
1997 (BSSC, 1997). In the case of short- and mid-period ð T¼10
amplification factors, only the values corresponding to the SAExcessive ¼ fNor:SAReal ðTÞ  Nor:SADRS ðTÞgdt
lowest design earthquake intensity were considered because T¼0
amplification factors vary with design earthquake intensity. ð1Þ
where Nor.SAReal(T ) and Nor.SADRS(T ) are the normalised
Comparative analysis using KIGAM data spectral accelerations from the earthquake records and from
The 2016 Gyeongju earthquakes recorded by KIGAM the DRS for a particular period, respectively. The mean +1 σ
stations were compared with the DRS for site classes SB response spectrum using four response spectra was utilised as
and S1 as shown in Fig. 2. The KIGAM station sites, which the Nor.SAreal(T ). The value of SAExcessive provided by the

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Assessment of new korean site classification and design response spectra 5
5 5

Normalised spectral acceleration

Normalised spectral acceleration MOCT average+1sigma EW MOCT average+1sigma EW
MOCT average+1sigma NS MOCT average+1sigma NS
4 4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM MOCT average+1sigma GM
3 3
DRS MPSS S1 DRS MPSS S2

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(a) (b)
5 5

Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma EW MOCT average+1sigma EW
Normalised spectral acceleration

MOCT average+1sigma NS MOCT average+1sigma NS

4 4
MOCT average+1sigma SRSS MOCT average+1sigma SRSS
MOCT average+1sigma GM MOCT average+1sigma GM
3 3
DRS MPSS S3 DRS MPSS S4

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 0 0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(c) (d)

Fig. 5. Comparisons of seismic response from KMA stations with DRS of MPSS (2017): (a) site class S1; (b) site class S2; (c) site class
S3; (d) site class S4

3 MOCT SB EW
3 KBC SB EW
MOCT SB NS KBC SB NS
MOCT SB SRSS KBC SB SRSS
Excessive SA over DRS
Excessive SA over DRS

MOCT SB GM KBC SB GM
MOCT SB Mean KBC SB Mean
KBC SC EW
2 MOCT SC EW 2 KBC SC NS
MOCT SC NS KBC SC SRSS
MOCT SC SRSS KBC SC GM
MOCT SC GM KBC SC Mean
MOCT SC Mean KBC SC+ EW
MOCT SD EW KBC SC+ NS
1 MOCT SD NS 1 KBC SC+ SRSS
MOCT SD SRSS KBC SC+ GM
MOCT SD GM KBC SC+ Mean
KBC SD EW
MOCT SD Mean KBC SD NS
KBC SD SRSS
0 0
0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5
Period, T: s Period, T: s
(a) (b)
3
MPSS S1 EW
MPSS S1 NS
MPSS S1 SRSS
Excessive SA over DRS

MPSS S1 GM
MPSS S1 Mean
MPSS S2 EW
2 MPSS S2 NS
MPSS S2 SRSS
MPSS S2 GM
MPSS S2 Mean
MPSS S3 EW
MPSS S3 NS
1 MPSS S3 SRSS
MPSS S3 GM
MPSS S3 Mean
MPSS S4 EW
MPSS S4 NS
MPSS S4 SRSS
0
0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5
Period, T: s
(c)

Fig. 6. Excessive spectral acceleration over DRS: (a) MOCT (1997); (b) KBC (AIK, 2016); (c) MPSS (2017)

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 6 Sun, Cho, Kim and Kim
Table 4. Comparison of SAExcessive for three seismic design codes

MOCT (1997) KBC (AIK, 2016) MPSS (2017)

SB SC SD SB SC SC+ SD SD+ S1 S2 S3 S4
SAExcessive 0·144 0·118 0·024 0·122 0·162 0·038 0·007 0·002 0·061 0·027 0·018 0·010
0·031 (mean) 0·013 (mean) 0·007 (mean)

MOCT (1997) and KBC (AIK, 2016) was determined to be 5

Mean design response spectrum (g)

MPSS DRS mean
0·130, and that of the MPSS (2017) was calculated to be
KBC DRS mean
0·065 by equation (1). The rock site amplification is 4
reasonably covered by the MPSS (2017) for the entire MOCT DRS mean

period regions.
3

Comparative analysis using KMA data 2

Seismic records from the 38 KMA seismic stations, Mean SADRSMean:

categorised depending on the codes (Table 2), are compared 1 MOCT (1997) = 0·766g

with the DRS for each site class as presented in Figs 3–5. KBC (AIK, 2016) = 0·767g

Using these figures, the value of SAExcessive for a given period
was evaluated and is depicted with site class in Fig. 6,
in which it should be noted that the DRS does not cover the
mean +1 σ response spectra of the measured earthquake
motions in the short-period region within 0·3 s for all three
codes. However, the SAExcessive for MPSS (2017) indicates
significantly lower values for response spectra than the other
two codes. On the basis of Fig. 6, the integrated SAExcessive is
calculated and summarised in Table 4. The mean SAExcessive
provided by MPSS (2017) yields the lowest value of
SAExcessive, indicating that MPSS (2017) reasonably captures
the site-amplification characteristics in Korea. This com-
parison method is meaningful for simultaneously evaluating
the performance of various DRS as well as for evaluating the
suitability of the soil classification scheme.
Comparative analysis of quantitative scale of DRS
If the DRS is set with a large value, small SAExcessive values
can be obtained using the previous comparisons. In this
section, the rationality of the DRS is analysed by quantitat-
ive comparison of the size of the DRS suggested in each
code. The mean value for the DRS curves given in each code
can be calculated with respect to period as follows
Pn
SADRSi ðTÞ
SADRSMean ðTÞ ¼ i¼1 ð2Þ
n
where, SADRSMean(T ) is the mean spectral acceleration of
all DRS curves given by a code for a particular period,
SADRSi (T ) the spectral acceleration of the DRS for each site
class given by a code for a particular period and n the
number of site classes defined in each code. To calculate
SADRSMean(T ) for the MOCT (1997) and KBC (AIK, 2016)
codes, the site class SA was not utilised due to the need to
balance the number of rock site classes in MPSS (2017)
enabling comparison.
Figure 7 shows the change in the three SADRSMean curves
with changing period. The SADRSMean curves for MPSS
(2017) and KBC (AIK, 2016) exceed that of MOCT (1997)
in the short-period range (<0·5 s), reflecting the short-period
amplification characteristics typical to Korean geological
conditions (Lee et al., 2012). The SADRSMean for MPSS
(2017) is lower than that for KBC (AIK, 2016) in the short
period, and provides the smallest amplification in the
mid- and long periods. The levels of SADRSMean from each
code can be averaged with period to yield a mean
SADRSMean. While the mean values provided by MOCT
(1997) and KBC (AIK, 2016) are similar, the mean from
MPSS (2017) = 0·628g
0
0·01 0·1 1 10
Period, T: s
Fig. 7. Mean design response spectrum (g) of three seismic
design codes in Korea
MPSS is significantly smaller (see Fig. 7). Clearly MPSS
(2017) does not over-simplify amplification by setting large
values for the DRS curves, but instead properly classifies the
Korean sites by considering specific site-amplification
characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS
The newly implemented site classification scheme and DRS
(MPSS, 2017), intended to provide minimum requirements
for general seismic design in Korea, were compared with
the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake records to assess their per-
formance. A comparative study was conducted using two
other Korean seismic design codes, concluding that the new
MPSS (2017), which uses both H and VS,Soil as classification
parameters, reasonably represents the site-amplification
characteristics of the shallow bedrock condition typical
across Korea, and accurately reflects as-measured con-
ditions, yielding more reliable results than other
Korean codes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by the basic research project
of KIGAM.
REFERENCES
AIK (Architectural Institute of Korea) (2016). Korean building code.
Seoul, Korea: AIK (in Korean).
ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) (2005). ASCE 7-05:
Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.
Reston, VA, USA: ASCE.
Borcherdt, R. D. & Glassmoyer, G. (1992). On the characteristics
of local geology and their influence on ground motions
generated by the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco
Bay region, California. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer. 82, No. 2,
603–641.
BSSC (Building Seismic Safety Council) (1997). FEMA 302:
NEHRP Recommended seismic provisions for new buildings

Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Assessment of new korean site classification and design response spectra
and other structures, Part 1– Provisions. Washington, DC,
USA: BSSC.
Chang, C., Lee, J. B. & Kang, T. S. (2010). Interaction
between regional stress state and faults: Complementary
analysis of borehole in situ stress and earthquake focal
mechanism in southeastern Korea. Tectonophysics 485, No. 1,
164–177.
Choi, E. K., Kim, Y. H. & Chung, E. (2016). Gyeongju quakes cost
23 billion won in damages. Korea Joongang Daily, 24 September.
See http://bit.ly/2k9d0pB (accessed 30/08/2017).
ICC (International Code Council) (2015). International building
code. Washington, DC, USA: ICC.
KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) (2008).
Seismological annual report of 2007. Seoul, Korea: KMA.
KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) (2017). Earthquake:
notice. KMA, Seoul, Korea. See http://www.kma.go.kr/weather/
earthquake_volcano/ (accessed 24/08/2017).
Lee, S. H., Sun, C. G., Yoon, J. K. & Kim, D. S. (2012).
Development and verification of a new site classification
system and site coefficients for regions of shallow bedrock in
Korea. J. Earthquake Engng 16, No. 6, 795–819.
Downloaded by [ TUFTS UNIVERSITY] on [22/03/18]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
7
Manandhar, S., Cho, H. I. & Kim, D. S. (2017). Site classification
system and site coefficients for shallow bedrock sites in Korea.
J. Earthquake Engng, https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2016.
1277570.
MOCT (Ministry of Construction and Transportation) (1997).
Korean seismic design standard. Seoul, Korea: MOCT
(in Korean).
MPSS (Ministry of Public Safety and Security) (2017). Minimum
requirements for seismic design. Sejong, Korea: MPSS (in Korean).
Rodriguez-Marek, A., Bray, J. D. & Abrahamson, N. A. (2001).
An empirical geotechnical seismic site response procedure.
Earthquake Spectra 17, No. 1, 65–87.
Seed, H. B., Romo, M. P., Sun, J. I., Jaime, A. & Lysmer, J. (1988).
The Mexico earthquake of September 19, 1985 – Relationships
between soil conditions and earthquake ground motions.
Earthquake Spectra 4, No. 4, 687–729.
Sun, C. G., Jeong, J. M., Kim, J. S. & Jang, I. S. (2016). Site
characterization of seismic stations based on downhole tests to
30 m depth in South Korea. Proceedings of the 5th international
conference on geotechnical & geophysical site characterisation,
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, pp. 935–939.
HOW CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE?
To discuss this paper, please submit up to 500 words to
the editor at journals@ice.org.uk. Your contribution will be
forwarded to the author(s) for a reply and, if considered
appropriate by the editorial board, it will be published as a
discussion in a future issue of the journal.