Bull Earthquake Eng (2009) 7:181–198

DOI 10.1007/s10518-008-9091-4

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

An investigation of the significance of local site effects

in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Aleksandre Kandilarov · Kuvvet Atakan ·

Jens Havskov · Dragomir Gospodinov

Received: 14 November 2007 / Accepted: 14 September 2008 / Published online: 3 October 2008
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract Plovdiv is the second largest city in the Republic of Bulgaria. A large part of the
city is located on Holocene alluvial sediments and the oldest neighborhoods are situated on
syenitic rock outcrops. We believe that local site effects may be an important contributor to
the destruction caused by earthquakes. The primary objective of this study was to estimate
quantitatively the local site effects in the central area of Plovdiv in terms of fundamental
site frequency and amplification factor. Another important objective was to see how these
correlate with the geological structures underlying the city. Measurements of the seismic
noise at more than two hundred regularly placed points were made in the central area of
the city. The H/V spectra were then calculated and analyzed to determine the spatial dis-
tribution of the fundamental site frequency and the amplification factor. The results exhibit
very good correlation with the local geology. They were also compared with an intensity map
from the strong 1928 Plovdiv earthquake. The comparison clearly demonstrates that the local
site effects were the main factor in the destruction of buildings—the zones where the most
damage was observed are also the zones where we have low fundamental site frequencies
and high amplifications. Similarly the areas with high fundamental site frequencies and low
amplification factors cover the neighborhoods where less damage has been observed. This
study may form a basis for a more comprehensive and systematic microzonation study in
Plovdiv.

Keywords Plovdiv · Bulgaria · Earthquakes · Site effects · H/V ratio ·

Nakamura method

A. Kandilarov (B) · K. Atakan · J. Havskov

Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41A, 5007 Bergen, Norway
e-mail: Aleksandre.Kandilarov@geo.uib.no
D. Gospodinov
Geophysical Observatory Plovdiv, Geophysical Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Plovdiv,
Bulgaria

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1 Introduction

It has been long realized that local site effects account for much of the damage occurring
during an earthquake. The destruction caused by events such as the 1985 Michoacan (Mexico
City) earthquake, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1999 Izmit and Düzce earthquakes
have demonstrated the amplification of the ground motion caused by local site effects (Graves
1993; Singh et al. 1988; Sørensen et al. 2006; Özel 2002; Bakir et al. 2002). The local vari-
ations in the site effects are due to the specific conditions of the site of interest. In extreme
cases, such as the Mexico city, they are the dominant factor affecting the damage (Singh
et al. 1988). In other areas the effect is more controlled by the nature of the alluvial (recent
Holocene) deposits and their lateral and vertical extent. Important factors here are the degree
of consolidation, water saturation, basin geometry, thickness of sediments, the grain size
changes in the deposit. Sharp lithological boundaries causing strong impedance contrasts
between the bedrock and the sediments are all important factors affecting the site effects.
Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, is one of the oldest European cities. On
April 14th and April 18th 1928, two earthquakes, with M = 6.8 and M = 7.0–7.2 respectively,
occurred near the town of Chirpan, Bulgaria. The first earthquake (14th of April, M = 6.8)
was closer to Chirpan (60–70 km away from Plovdiv) and caused significant damage there
and relatively little damage in Plovdiv. The second earthquake (18th of April. M = 7.0–7.2)
was 20–25 km away from Plovdiv and caused significant damage to the city. The 14th of
April earthquake is known as the Chirpan earthquake and the 18th of April earthquake is
known as the Plovdiv earthquake. It is to be emphasized that even though the two earthquakes
had almost the same magnitude, the second event (the 18th of April Plovdiv earthquake) was
the one that caused extensive destruction in the city of Plovdiv (Radulov and Yaneva 2004;
Shanov et al. 2002; BAS team 1931). Most of the observed damage is believed to be entirely
associated with the local site effects. However, until now there has not been any attempt
to quantify the possible amplification of seismic signals due to local geological conditions.
In the present study we carried out an extensive survey of ambient noise recordings within
the central part of the city with the aim to understand the extent of the local site effects.
Assessing site effects, although within a limited area, will have important implications to
the construction industry in the region where the effect of local site conditions are usually
ignored.
Since the importance of the local geological conditions has been appreciated by the seis-
mological community, many different approaches to evaluate the local site response have
been suggested (Field and Jacob 1995; Lermo and Chavez-Garcia 1993; Liu and Warrik
1992; Nakamura 1989; Rogers et al. 1984; Borcherdt 1970). In this study evaluation of the
local site effects for the central area of Plovdiv, Bulgaria was carried out using the well
known approach based on the ratio of spectra of the horizontal to vertical component of the
recorded ground motion of ambient seismic noise. This gives a spectral ratio showing the
fundamental site frequency and the amplification associated with it. Practice shows that a
thick sedimentary cover usually generates spectra with peaks at low frequencies (1–3 Hz)
while thin sediments usually generate high frequency peaks (>10 Hz). A flat spectrum with
constant amplitude is expected for sites situated on crystalline outcrops (Bard 1994; Bard
et al. 2004; Nakamura 1989, 2000). The results of the present survey are maps showing the
distribution of the fundamental site frequency and the observed amplification factors. These
are then compared with a geological map and a map showing the damage distribution from
the strong 1928 Plovdiv earthquake (Radulov and Yaneva 2004; Shanov et al. 2002; BAS
team 1931).

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2 Geographical location and geological description of Plovdiv and the surrounding

area

Plovdiv has a population of around 375,000 people. The city is situated in the central part
of the country on the banks of Maritza River. It occupies the area between approx 42◦ 06 to
42◦ 10 N latitude and approximately 24◦ 42 to 24◦ 47 longitude. The city is approximately
10 ×10 km and its municipal area is approximately 100 km2 . North of the city, around 15 km
distant, lies the mountainous chain of Stara Planina. South of the city, around 15 km away , is
the Rhodope mountain. The altitude measured at the central railway station is 169 m, which
is close to the average elevation of the city; the highest point is 270 m. The central area,
subject of the present study, is shown on Fig. 1 overlaid with the intensities from the 1928
Plovdiv earthquake. The area represents a square with a side 2.7 km and occupies around
eight percent of the total municipal area (Domino EOOD team 2005) The intensity map uses
the Forel-Mercalli macroseismic scale and roughly divides the city into several zones where
damage with different level of severity were observed (BAS team 1931). The highest level

Fig. 1 Street map of the surveyed area with the main streets shown. On top of the street map the intensity
map of the 1928 Plovdiv earthquake is overlain and the locations of two of the boreholes falling in the survey
area is indicated with numbered squares. The left figure in the rectangle in the upper left corner shows the
location of the city in Bulgaria and the right figure shows the location of the surveyed area in the municipality
limits (right) (Domino EOOD team 2005; BAS team 1931)

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of damage (intensity VIII–IX) has been observed in the southeastern part of the city and the
zone north of the river. The lowest damage (intensity VII) was observed in the neighborhoods
sitting on top of the hills.
The available geological information for the city and the surrounding area comes from
the Geological map of Bulgaria at a scale of 1:100,000, consisting of 92 separate maps
(Kozhuharov et al. 1989) and from three boreholes, two of which fall in the surveyed area
and one is south of it (Fig. 1; Table 1) (EGC archive 1987). Part of that map, covering the
city central area, has been digitized and shown on Fig. 2. The city is situated mainly on Qua-
ternary sediments of different age. The south-eastern part of the city lies on part of an Upper
Pleistocene alluvial fan, which is overlain of Pleistocene debris from the Rhodope Mountain.
The south-western part of the city, encompassing several large neighborhoods, is situated on
Pleistocene debris from the Rhodope Mountain. An outcrop consisting of andesitic Upper
Cretaceous rocks pierces the debris in this region. Four outcrops of syenite are found in the
central area of the city as four hills. All of them fall within the surveyed area. The area around
the two river banks, except for the rock outcrops, is overlain by Holocene sediments. The
thickness of the sediments from the rock outcrops to the river banks gradually increases,
most likely because of a buried fault south of the river that has controlled the location of the
river bed. This fault is parallel to and close to the river (Fig. 2). The area north of the river
is overlain by older Pleistocene sediments. Another buried fault crosses the southern part of
the city but does not intersect the surveyed area.
In the surveyed area two types of geological formations can be distinguished, one of which
may cause intense site effects. These are as follows:
1. Holocene alluvial sediments, mainly gravel, sand and clay, on both banks of Maritza
River with their thickness increasing from the rock hills to the river. It is expected also
that the youngest Quaternary sediments should be the thickest (Kozhuharov et al. 1989),
which means that the lower fundamental site frequencies should be measured around the
river banks.
2. Four rock hills consisting of Upper Cretaceous syenitic rocks that pierce the sediments.
The geotechnical data from the boreholes is presented in Table 1 and the location of bore-
holes 1 and 2 is shown on Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The thickness of the sedimentary cover in
borehole 1 is around 40 m, while borehole 2 shows a 2 m thick cover of artificial fill before
it reaches the rock. A 50 meter thick sedimentary cover is deduced from the third borehole
but it is outside the surveyed area (EGC archive 1987).

3 Data and analysis

Ambient seismic noise recordings were carried out at 205 different sites in June–July 2005.
In total, 612 measurements of 9 min duration were conducted. The sites of measurements
were chosen to be the crossing points of two mutually perpendicular sets of profiles. It is well
known that man-made seismic noise is often a problem when doing seismic measurements
in densely urbanized areas. Such transient signals usually result from traffic or industrial
activities, and are typical for a city environment. In order to avoid introducing man-made
seismic noise into the measurements special care was taken, whenever possible, to measure
as far as possible away from sites close to heavily trafficked streets and boulevards or near
other sources of strong artificial seismic noise. In a few cases it was impossible to find an
appropriate site and we had to take the measurements early in the morning when there was
relatively little human activity in the city. The two sets consisted of 14 profiles spaced at

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Table 1 Borehole data for three boreholes drilled in the city
Age
Borehole 1, Latitude 42.14983, Longitude 24.74309
Quaternary (+N2 )
Upper Cretaceous—Paleocene
Borehole 2, Latitude 42.14768, Longitude 24.74783
Upper Creatceous—Paleocene
Borehole 3, Latitude 42.13453, Longitude 24.74954 (out of the surveyed area)
Quaternary
Paleogene-Priabonian
185
Depth (m) Thickness (m) Lithological description
4 4 Soil and mud and dusty-clay
sands
8 4 Clay sands, grayish-white
gravel composed of
middle-sized grains
18 10 Yellowish-brownish fine
grained sands with small
traces of clay
23 5 Reddish-to-yellowish
dusty-clayish sands
34 11 Dusty-sandy porous brown
clays mixed with gravels.
Black clay mixed with
gravels at 33-34 m
218 184 Grayish-rose slightly cracked
monzonites, composed of
middle sized grains, showing
hydrothermal changes along
the cracks’ edges
(epidotization, cloritization),
carbonate deposits
2 2 Clayey-sandy materials
(artificial fill)
6.4 4.4 Slightly weathered and
cracked monzonites
104.4 98 Light-gray slightly cracked
monzonites, composed of
middle sized grains showing
hydrothermal changes along
the cracks’ edges, pyrite
intrusions and microcrystals
2 2 Dusty-sandy clays
15.6 13.6 A mixture of light-brown-to-
grayish-whitish dusty-sandy
clays with rusty spots and
small grained gravels
48.8 33.2 Sands with fine to
middle-size grains and small
traces of clays and gravel.
White fresh-water limestone
between 48.5 and 48.8 m
109 60.2 Down to 51.7 m
whitish-to-yellowish
claystone mixed with gravels.
Further down a mixture of
dark-brown to rosy clays and
manganesed limestone
concretions with 1–2 mm
quartz grains
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Table 1 continued
Age Depth (m) Thickness (m) Lithological description

153 44 Sandy clays with limestone

kernels and sparsely
distributed pieces of
syenite-monzonites. Compact
limestones at the end of the
interval
215 62 Clayey sandstone and
yellowish claystone with rosy
tint mixed with manganesed
quartz grains
217 2 Sand and bentonite
227 10 Brownish-reddish fine
grained clayey sandstone
231.5 4.5 Pieces of syenite-monzonite
Proterosoic 238 6.5 Claystone
270 34 Gneisses
288 18 Biotite-gneiss
306 18 Mylonite and gneiss at the
end of the interval
The three tables show the borehole coordinates, lithological description, thickness and age of the formations
found. The first and the second borehole fall within the surveyed area and are indicated on Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5.
The third borehole lies south of the survey area (EGC archive 1987)

150–175 m. As a result the points of measurements were distributed in a regular grid pattern,
which was designed to achieve good quality of the contour maps to show the distribution
of the fundamental site frequency and amplification factor. During the data collection the
instruments used and the experimental conditions were controlled following the SESAME
project results (Chatelain et al. 2007; Guillier et al. 2007) It is to be expected that higher
fundamental site frequencies would be observed on sites that are on thin sediments and close
to the rock hills, whereas lower fundamental frequencies would be observed over the thick
sediments next to the river banks. For the points falling on the hills very high fundamental site
frequencies of flat spectra are expected to be observed (Bard et al. 2004; Lacave et al. 1999;
Atakan 1995; Nakamura 1989). Composite H/V spectra from the different zones defined by
the intensity map and some selected spectra from the collected dataset are shown on Fig. 3.
These composite spectra were derived by averaging spectra from several sites located in the
same seismic intensity zone.
The preprocessing of the data was done using two subroutines of the SEISAN package
(Havskov and Öttemöller 2005a) while the main processing was done using the program
J-SESAME (Havskov and Öttemöller 2005b; Atakan et al. 2004; Bard et al. 2004; Atakan
et al. 2003). Although precautions were taken during the experiment to avoid man-made seis-
mic signals, it is inevitable that some artificial noise has been recorded. In order to reject such
unwanted signals an STA/LTA window selection algorithm was used to exclude parts of the
record with amplitudes higher than the ambient seismic noise. After excluding these transients
the remaining part of the record is divided into windows each of 20 s length and from those
windows the ground motion spectra of the different channels were then computed. After merg-
ing the spectra of the horizontal channels for computational stability, the resulting merged
horizontal spectrum is divided by the vertical one, which gives the final H/V spectral ratio.

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Fig. 2 Geological map of the surveyed area. The different hatchings used in the legend are as follows:
1—young alluvial Holocene sediments (gravel, sand and clay), 2—older alluvial sediments, 3—river, 4—
Upper Cretaceous syenitic rock outcrops, 5—buried fault. The numbered squares denote the location of the
two boreholes falling in the survey area (Kozhuharov et al. 1989)

From similar studies carried out earlier it is known that 10–14 windows each of 20 s length
of recorded ambient seismic noise are enough for a reliable estimation of the H/V spectral
ratio, (Atakan et al. 2003; Atakan et al. 2004; Bard et al. 2004). For the present dataset the
average number of windows is 60, which is well above the required minimum and at only a
few sites is the number of windows close to the minimum, suggesting that the data quality
is good. In our analysis and interpretation of the spectra we tried to follows the SESAME
guidelines in Bard et al. (2004).
The results show that the H/V spectra can be divided into three groups—Fig. 3e:
1. Spectral ratios having clear peaks below 10 Hz
2. Spectral ratios having clear peaks above 10 Hz
3. Flat spectral ratios

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Clear peaks below 10 Hz are computed for sites overlying sediments (Fig. 3). For sites
close to the river banks low frequencies, 1–3 Hz, are observed. For sites close to the rock
outcrops higher frequencies, 5 to 8–9 Hz, are observed. The pattern observed, namely site
specific frequencies increasing from the river banks to the rock outcrops, could be explained
by the thickness of the Quaternary sediments decreasing from the river to the rock outcrops.
For several sites situated on rock the computed H/V spectral ratios are not as flat as expected
but instead have a high frequency peak above 10 Hz (Fig. 3e). This may be indicative of some

Fig. 3 a Composite spectral ratio from sites located in the zone with estimated seismic intensity IX. b Com-
posite spectral ratio from sites located in the zone with estimated seismic intensity VIII–IX. c Composite
spectral ratio from sites located in the zones with estimated seismic intensity VII–VIII and VIII. d Composite
spectral ratio from sites located in the zones with estimated seismic intensity VII. e Spectral ratios of three
selected sites from our dataset. Site P080 is situated over sediments (see Fig. 2) and has a clear single peak. Site
P058 is situated over sediments but very near one of the rock outcrops and has no peaks in its H/V spectrum.
Site 042 is situated over one of the rock outcrops and has a single high peak above 10 Hz that could possibly
be due to a thin unconsolidated layer covering the rock outcrop

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Fig. 3 continued

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very thin layer of low acoustic impedance under the instrument, which can account for the
high frequency. Another possible explanation could be the presence of some source of high
frequency man made seismic noise. However if this is the case, flat spectral ratios should not
be observed and a high frequency peak should be present in many spectra around the same
frequency. Since this is not observed the latter explanation should be considered as unlikely.
The flat spectra, which form the third group (Fig. 3e), are typical for sites on rock. All
spectra from this group were measured at sites located on the hills. Since no specific fre-
quency can be deduced from the flat spectra (rock sites) we had to assign a high frequency
to these sites for display purposes only. We argue that if thin sediments overlying rock yield
H/V spectra with peak at high frequencies, the rock sites may be considered as overlain by
an infinitesimally thin sedimentary cover that should result in peak at infinite frequencies.
Following this observation we assigned the value of 19 Hz to all flat spectra situated on rock.
It was chosen to be slightly higher than the highest observed frequency in our data.

4 Results and discussion

After extracting the fundamental site frequencies and the corresponding amplification factors
from the dataset, two maps showing their spatial distribution were produced (Figs. 4, 5). It
is known that site specific frequency is proportional to the S-wave velocity and inversely
proportional to the thickness of the topmost layer, which in the case of Plovdiv is the layer of
Quaternary sediments, (Reiter 1990). The fact that the thickness of the sediments increases
away from the rock outcrops is confirmed by the data when only spectral ratios from group
one and two are considered. On the exposed rock the thickness of the sediments is zero, which
theoretically corresponds to site specific frequency approaching an infinite value. Therefore
for the sites having flat spectra a very high frequency was assumed. Its assumed value was
19 Hz, which is a little above the highest observed frequency in the spectral ratios from group
two (18.6 Hz). This assumption was made for practical purposes—simply to be able to plot
all the points on the contour map.
Amplifications caused by the local topographical conditions were out of the scope of this
study. Moreover since the steepness of the topographical features in the surveyed area is small
(highest hill 270 m, average elevation 160 m) the expected topographical site effects would
also be inconsiderable. Therefore, we believe that considering topographical site effects will
not significantly change the results presented here.
In order to assess the correspondence between the measurements and the underlying geol-
ogy the results were subdivided into two groups according to the geological formation over
which they were obtained. Threshold parameters for the fundamental site frequency and the
site amplification factor were chosen and the number of sites in each group, with parame-
ters above or below these thresholds, was counted, Table 2. Since building damage typically
occurs for seismic signals with frequencies in the range 1–10 Hz and amplification factors
above 2, these were chosen as threshold values. From Table 2 one can see that 85% of the
frequency measurements on alluvium have fundamental site frequencies below 4 Hz and 88%
of the measurements on rock have frequencies above 4 Hz, which is in compliance with the
expectations. The qualitative assessment shows that the spatial distribution of the site spe-
cific frequency (Fig. 4) is in very good agreement with the underlying geology (Fig. 2). The
superimposed maps of the site frequency distribution and underlying geology are shown in
Fig. 6b. The rock outcrops are easily distinguishable in the frequency map and the hill areas
are quite well delineated. Also, it can be observed that the site frequencies decrease not only
from the outcrops to the river but radially away from them, which is in good agreement with

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Fig. 4 Distribution of the estimated fundamental site frequency in the surveyed area. The numbered white
squares point to the location of the boreholes falling in the survey area.

the fact that the sedimentary thickness should decrease uniformly towards the outcrops. That
the southwestern hill is not as clearly distinguishable from the map as the other three hills is
most likely due to the fact that it was only partly sampled.
The measured site amplification factors do not compare so well with the underlying
geology for the sites overlying bedrock while for the sites overlying alluvial sediments the
comparison is better. Of all measurements on alluvial sediments, 75% showed amplifications
above the threshold value, which is in compliance with the theoretical expectations. For the
measurements conducted on rock, however, results and theory do not match—only 39% of the
measured amplification factors are smaller than the chosen critical value. The superimposed
maps of the site amplification and underlying geology are shown in Fig. 7. The qualitative
assessment also shows poorer correlation between the amplification factors (Fig. 5) and the
underlying geology (Fig. 2). This may be due to the limitation of the method, which is known
to be unreliable in constraining the correct amplification factor (Bard et al. 2004; Lacave et al.
1999; Nakamura 1989). However, the distribution of the amplification factor in the central

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Fig. 5 Distribution of the estimated amplification at the fundamental site frequency in the surveyed area. The
numbered white squares point to the location of the boreholes falling in the survey area

and southwestern parts of the surveyed area is in agreement with the underlying geology. In
this area the hills are distinguishable from the sediments and, as expected, the values of the
amplification factors are low on the hills and increase in the areas between them and towards
the river. However the agreement is poor for the rest of the surveyed area. The fact that the
southwestern hill is not distinguishable at all from the map could be again due to the irregular
sampling since only part of the hill falls into the surveyed area. However, no such interpre-
tation could be given for the fact that the northeastern hill is missing on the amplification
map. The only remaining explanation for the latter disagreement could be the limitation of
the method itself in determining the correct amplification factors. The amplification factors
north of the river are also unexpectedly low even though the sedimentary thickness north of
the river is generally the same as south of the river. The mismatch is probably due to the same
reason as above.
The results (Figs. 4, 5) were also compared with a map showing the damage distribu-
tion from the strong 18th of April 1928 Plovdiv earthquake (Fig. 1). The intensities were

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 Table 2 Values and 95% and 99% confidence intervals of the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient for the correlation between the spatial distributions of the
fundamental frequency and macroseismic intensity and amplification factor and macroseismic intensity

Selected area Pearson 95% Confidence coef- 99% Confidence inter-

product- ficient interval Pearson val Pearson product-
moment corre- product-moment cor- moment coefficient
Bull Earthquake Eng (2009) 7:181–198

Longitude Latitude
lation relation
coefficient
From To From To

Frequency vs. intensity The whole area −0.570 −0.655 to −0.470 −0.679 to −0.436
24◦ 44 03 24◦ 45 00 42◦ 08 12 42◦ 09 36 −0.652 −0.740 to −0.540 −0.764 to −0.501
24◦ 45 00 24◦ 45 40 42◦ 08 12 42◦ 09 36 −0.400 −0.575 to −0.192 −0.621 to −0.121
Amplification vs. intensity The whole area −0.188 −0.316 to −0.053 −0.355 to −0.010
24◦ 44 03 24◦ 45 00 42◦ 08 12 42◦ 09 07 0.293 0.094 to 0.469 0.029 to 0.551
24◦ 45 00 24◦ 45 40 42◦ 08 12 42◦ 09 07 −0.290 −0.523 to −0.072 −0.585 to −0.016
24◦ 44 03 24◦ 45 40 42◦ 09 07 42◦ 09 36 −0.583 −0.728 to −0.389 −0.763 to −0.318
The correlation has been calculated for the whole surveyed area and for some selected parts. As it is obvious from the table the fundamental site frequency and macroseismic
intensity are in good agreement over the whole area, while the amplification factor and the macroseismic intensity show some agreement only in the southeastern part of the
examined area

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assigned according to the Forel-Mercalli scale (BAS team 1931). The maps of the frequency
and damage distribution are shown in Figs. 6a and 7a respectively. The building density in
the central part of the investigated area during the 1928 Plovdiv earthquake was high and
nearly homogeneous because this is the oldest and most densely populated area of the city.
In addition we assume homogeneous building vulnerability as most of the residential houses
in that period were 1–2 storeyed brick houses with only a few taller administrative buildings
(of 3–4 storeys). The building density in the remaining parts of the surveyed area was lower
but the building types and hence their vulnerability was not very different from those in the
central area.
The linear correlation between the observed seismic intensities and the distributions of
frequency and amplification factors was tested by calculating the Pearson product-moment
correlation coefficient (ρ) for the three datasets, Table 2. A value of 1 for ρ means perfect
correlation between the two datasets, a value of −1 means perfect anti-correlation, while a
value of 0 means that the compared datasets are not correlated. The theoretical expectations
are that frequency and intensity distribution will be anti-correlated—that is low frequency
corresponds to higher intensity while amplification and damage are expected to be cor-
related—that is damage increases with amplification factor. From the results presented in
Table 2 it is obvious that the frequency distribution and the intensity over the whole area
compare well (ρ = −0.57) (i.e. low frequency corresponds to high intensity) and for the area
west of 24◦ 45 the match is even better ρ = −0.65. Poor correspondence is found between
the amplification factor and the intensity distribution. Contrary to the expectations there is
a weak anti-correlation between the two datasets (ρ = −0.19) (i.e. low amplification factor
corresponds to high intensity). Correlation is positive only for the central and southeastern
part of the surveyed area where ρ = 0.29 (i.e. high amplification factor corresponds to high
intensity), which is also the area where the two datasets are visually comparable (Fig. 7a).
The frequency and damage distribution compare well (Fig. 6a) as well as the frequency dis-
tribution and local geology (Fig. 6b). Agreement between the amplification factor and the
damage distribution is again found only in the central and southeastern part of the surveyed
area (Fig. 7a). The qualitative and quantitative assessment of the results with the seismic
intensity map from the 18th of April 1928 Plovdiv earthquake indicate that local site effects
in Plovdiv exist and are the main factor in determining the degree of damage resulting from
an earthquake.

5 Conclusions and further research

A large dataset of seismic noise was collected at 205 sites in the central area of the Munic-
ipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. H/V spectral ratios were computed at 205 different sites and
fundamental site frequencies and the corresponding amplification factors were extracted.
Contour maps showing the spatial distribution of the two parameters were produced and
compared with maps of the local geology of the damage distribution from the strong 18th of
April 1928 Plovdiv earthquake. Except for one borehole south of the surveyed area and two
within it no other geotechnical information was available and it was not possible to quantita-

Fig. 6 a Superimposed maps of the estimated distribution of the fundamental site frequency and the

intensity of the 1928 Plovdiv earthquake. b Superimposed maps of the estimated distribution of the funda-
mental site frequency and the underlying geology (Kozhuharov et al. 1989). For the legend please see the
captions of Fig. 2

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Fig. 6

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Fig. 7

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 Fig. 7 a Superimposed maps of the estimated distribution of the amplification at the fundamental site fre-
quency and the intensity of the 1928 Plovdiv earthquake. b Superimposed maps of the estimated distribution
of the amplification at the fundamental site frequency and the underlying geology. For the legend please see
the captions of Fig. 2

tively correlate the results with this type of data. For the same reason no numerical modeling
was carried out. The data from the three boreholes show that the thickness of the sedimentary
cover varies from 2 to 50 m. It is essential that correlation with more geotechnical data is
made when it becomes available.
The results, especially the fundamental site frequency distribution, show good agreement
with both geology and damage distribution, clearly indicating the existence and importance
of site effects in the area. Moreover many of the fundamental site frequencies, deduced from
the spectra of the sites overlying sediments, occur in the low frequency range (1–4 Hz).
Many residential houses within the central area of the city are (1–4 stories high) vulnerable
to ground motions at these frequencies. The hills seem to be relatively safer areas compared
to the rest of the central part, both with respect to the fundamental site frequencies, which
are higher, and hence to the damage distribution.
The results of this study clearly demonstrate the importance of site effects for the seismic
hazard in Plovdiv. However, since this study has been conducted in the central part of the
city only, a full and systematic microzonation study, encompassing the whole city, needs
to be done in the future. In this way all available geotechnical data can be used to gener-
ate numerical models of the site response and compare them with observations. Moreover,
since 1928 the building types have changed and the present day vulnerability of the building
environment needs to be addressed systematically to have reliable estimate of the seismic
risk.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank to Professor Brian Robins from the Department of
Earth Science, University of Bergen for correcting the manuscript. We would like to thank to “DOMINO”
EOOD for giving permission to use the street map of Plovdiv in this publication free of charge. The Norwegian
Educational Loan Fund is also acknowledged for providing financial support for the survey.

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