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11-11-20

Using data from a network of 500 seismic stations across the Los Angels basin, researchers have revealed areas where the amplification of shaking in high-rise buildings is greatest. "We thought the amplifications would be south of downtown LA, but we didn’t see that,” says Monica Kohler, Research Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. “We saw them elsewhere, where the basin is not deep, in West LA and the San Fernando Valley." Each building shakes differently during an earthquake. Studying those differences will help to improve building codes and practices and potentially save lives. [Caltech Science Exchange] [SSA story] [Wired story] [Temblor story]

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Tags: MCE Kanianthra Mani Chandy Thomas Heaton Monica Kohler Filippos Filippitzis

06-30-16

The Community Seismic Network’s (CSN) tight network of low-cost detectors are improving the resolution of seismic data gathering and could offer city inspectors crucial information on building damage after a quake. On February 18, 2015, an explosion rattled the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, causing ground shaking equivalent to that of a magnitude-2.0 earthquake and blasting out an air pressure wave similar to a sonic boom. Traveling at 343 meters per second the air pressure wave reached a 52-story high-rise in downtown Los Angeles 66 seconds after the blast. The building's seismometers, which are part of the CSN, noted and recorded the motion of each individual floor. "We want first responders, structural engineers, and facilities engineers to be able to make decisions based on what the data say," explained Monica Kohler, Research Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and the lead author of a paper detailing the high-rise's response that recently appeared in the journal Earthquake Spectra. [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights MCE Monica Kohler