Structures and Buildings Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Volume 167 Issue SB8 Structures and Buildings 167 August 2014 Issue SB8
Pages 457–468 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/stbu.12.00059
Estimation of spectral acceleration based on Paper 1200059
neural networks Received 03/08/2012 Accepted 03/09/2013
Published online 12/12/2013
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and Barkhordari Keywords: mathematical modelling/safety & hazards/seismic engineering

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Estimation of spectral
acceleration based on neural
networks
j
1 Hossein Bakhshi BSc, MSc, PhD j
3 Gholamreza Ghodrati Amiri BSc, MSc, PhD
Assistance Professor, Engineering Faculty, Hakim Sabzevari Professor, Center of Excellence for Fundamental Studies in Structural
University, Sabzevar, Iran Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science
j
2 Abdollah Bagheri BSc, MSc and Technology, Tehran, Iran
PhD Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, j
4 Mohammad A. Barkhordari BSc, MSc, PhD
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA Associate Professor, School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of
Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

j
1 j
2 j
3 j
4

This study presents an effective method based on artificial intelligence to predict spectral acceleration from the
data of the ‘Next generation attenuation’ project. The proposed method uses the learning abilities of artificial
neural networks to expand the knowledge of the mapping from earthquake parameters to spectral accelerations,
which results in spectral accelerations for special frequencies. In this paper, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is
applied for training neural networks. For each type of faults, considered earthquake parameters included in the
input of the neural network are moment magnitude, distance from the recording site to epicentre, hypocentre
depth and average shear-wave velocity in the top 30 m. To test the adequacy of the trained neural networks,
they were examined through their training set and new data. The obtained results demonstrate that neural
networks can be effectively and reliably employed in the estimation of spectral acceleration.

Notation 1. Introduction
ag earthquake ground acceleration The estimation of attenuation relationships for spectral accelera-
bi bias of ith layer of neural network tion is necessary for the purpose of seismic hazard analysis in
e vector of network errors seismic zones. To derive the attenuation relationships of spectral
g vector of gradient acceleration, the first stage is to use a mathematical form relating
H Hessian matrix independent and dependent variables of the ground motion
h hypocentre depth parameters by applying regression analysis. In this approach,
I Identity matrix selected function forms for the attenuation relationships of
J Jacobian matrix spectral acceleration are based on few theoretical considerations.
Mw moment magnitude The spectral acceleration is frequently calculated as a function of
P vector of earthquake parameters earthquake magnitude, distance from source to site, earthquake
R distance from recording site to epicentre source characteristics and wave propagation (Douglas, 2003). The
Sa vector of spectral acceleration regression analysis is performed after selecting the function form,
T vector of period and Joyner and Boore (1993) discussed different methods for
tansig tan-sigmoid transfer function performing the regression analysis.
VS30 average shear-wave velocity in the top 30 m
Wi weight of ith layer of neural network Recently, within the framework of the ‘Next generation attenua-
xk vector of current weights and biases of neural tion’ (NGA) project, new ground-motion prediction relations have
network been developed through a comprehensive and highly interactive
 a scalar research programme (Power et al., 2008). Teams working inde-
 damping coefficient ratio pendently but interacting throughout the development process
øi fundamental frequency developed five sets of updated attenuation relationships. The

457
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Volume 167 Issue SB8
developers are listed below with references to their updated
attenuation relationships shown in parentheses: Abrahamson and
Silva (2008), Boore and Atkinson (2008), Campbell and Bozorg-
nia (2008), Chiou and Youngs (2008) and Idriss (2008). These
sets of ground-motion models have been presented for shallow
crustal earthquakes in the western United States. The NGA
models have been proposed for wider ranges of magnitudes,
distances, site conditions and response spectral periods of vibra-
tion. In addition, the models are in terms of the average
horizontal component of ground motion. The predictive para-
meters diversely incorporated in the models included earthquake
magnitude, style of faulting, depth to top of fault rupture, source-
to site distance, site location on hanging wall, and near-surface
soil stiffness. One of the most important parameters that has been
used by all developers is the average shear-wave velocity in the
upper 30 m of sediments (Power et al., 2008).
The developed artificial neural networks have emerged as a
powerful tool to solve problems such as inverse and forward
problems. Owing to the ability to learn and generalise inter-
actions among many variables, the artificial neural network
technology has considerable potential in the modelling problems.
Ghaboussi and Lin (1997); Lin and Ghaboussi (2001); Ghodrati
Amiri and Bagheri (2008); Ghodrati Amiri et al. (2009) and
Asadi et al. (2011) developed innovative methodologies for the
generation of artificial earthquake accelerograms using neural
networks. In the field of attenuation relationship prediction,
owing to the uncertainties inherent in the variables describing the
earthquake source, the difficulty in defining broad categories to
classify site, a lack of understanding of wave propagation
processes and ray path characteristics from source to site, the
estimations from attenuation regression analyses are often inaccu-
rate (Garcı́a et al., 2007). To solve this problem, an artificial
neural network has been applied to predict strong ground motion
parameters directly from the strong ground motion data. Because
of the ability to learn and generalise interactions among many
variables, the artificial neural network methods have a remarkable
potential in the modelling of problems. Kerh and Ting (2005) and
Güllü and Erçelebi (2007) suggested the application of an
artificial neural network for the estimation of peak ground
acceleration as a soft computing method to remove uncertainties
in attenuation relationships. Also, Garcı́a et al. (2007) applied
neural networks to estimate both orthogonal components of the
horizontal and vertical peak ground accelerations measured at
rock sites during Mexican subduction zone earthquakes. Recently,
Ahmad et al. (2008) presented a method for the estimation of
strong ground motion parameters using artificial neural networks.
They developed attenuation relationships for three peak ground
motion parameters: peak ground acceleration, peak ground
velocity and peak ground displacement. Artificial neural networks
can model some important characteristics of peak ground motion
attenuation including magnitude scaling, attenuation with dis-
tance, site amplification, saturation of peak ground parameters
with distance and magnitude, and magnitude dependent attenua-
tion. However, the neural network-based methods in the ground
458
Estimation of spectral acceleration based
on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari
motion prediction study cannot model the quantification of
uncertainties.
In this paper, artificial neural networks are applied to estimate
the spectral acceleration directly from the strong ground motion
data. The presented method is validated using 2880 accelero-
grams from the database of the NGA project (Chiou et al., 2008)
to train the neural networks. The performance of the trained
neural networks is estimated by testing the neural networks from
the training and the new groups. Furthermore, the efficiency of
the suggested method is evaluated through the comparison of the
obtained results with those from other attenuation relationship
models.
2. Proposed methodology
In this section, the main objective of this study is to present an
approach based on artificial neural networks to predict spectral
acceleration from earthquake parameters. First, the structure of
the neural network for estimating spectral acceleration is de-
scribed. Then, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is presented
to train neural networks.
2.1 Architecture of neural network
The suggested method is based on expanding a feed-forward
neural network which takes earthquake parameters as input, and
the output of the neural network produces discretised ordinates of
the spectral acceleration of earthquake accelerogram. The re-
corded earthquakes were categorised into strike-slip, reverse and
reverse-oblique mechanisms, and each set was used to train a
distinct neural network.
The architecture of the selected feed-forward neural network
contains four layers: input layer, output layer and two hidden
layers. Figure 1 shows the proposed architecture of the selected
neural network for predicating spectral acceleration using earth-
quake parameters based on a feed-forward neural network. The
input layer of the feed-forward neural network is identified by the
moment magnitude (Mw ), the distance from the recording site to
epicentre (R), the hypocentre depth (h), and the average shear-
wave velocity in the top 30 m (VS30 ). The input layer of the feed-
forward neural network for any mechanism type has four nodes.
The output layer of the feed-forward neural network for any
mechanism type is the spectral acceleration of earthquake accel-
erogram
1:
Sa(øi , ) ¼ maxj€x(t)j, i ¼ 1, 2, . . ., 22 ,  ¼ 5%
t
2: €x(t) þ 2  øi x_ (t) þ ø2i x(t) ¼ ag (t)
where ø i ,  and a g are the fundamental frequency of a single
degree of freedom (SDOF) structure, the damping coefficient
Structures and Buildings
Volume 167 Issue SB8
Earthquake Feed-forward neural networks
parameters
30 nodes
15 nodes
Mw
log(R)
h
VS30
Figure 1. The proposed architecture of neural network for
predicating spectral acceleration using earthquake parameters
ratio of an SDOF system, and the earthquake ground acceleration,
respectively. The number of nodes for the output layer of the
feed-forward neural network is obtained after discretising the
ordinates of the spectral acceleration of accelerogram which is 22
nodes.
2.2 Training of neural network
There are many variations of algorithms for training neural
networks. Faster algorithms are divided into two categories. The
first category uses heuristic techniques, which were developed
from an analysis of the performance of the standard steepest
descent algorithm. The second category of fast algorithms uses
standard numerical optimisation techniques such as the quasi-
Newton methods and the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. In this
paper, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was applied for
training of neural networks.
The Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was designed to approach
second-order training speed without having to compute the
Hessian matrix in the quasi-Newton methods (Hagan and Menhaj,
1994). When the performance function has the form of a sum of
squares, the Hessian matrix can be approximated as
3: H ¼ JT J
and the gradient can be computed as
4: g ¼ JT e
where e is a vector of network errors, and J is the Jacobian
Estimation of spectral acceleration based
on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari
Spectral acceleration
of accelerogram
log[Sa(ω1, ξ)]
log[Sa(ω2, ξ)]
log[Sa(ω3, ξ)]
log[Sa(ω20, ξ)]
log[Sa(ω21, ξ)]
log[Sa(ω22, ξ)]
matrix that contains the first derivatives of the network errors
with respect to the weights and biases. The Jacobian matrix can
be computed through a standard back-propagation technique
(Hagan and Menhaj, 1994) that is much less complex than
computing the Hessian matrix.
The Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm uses this approximation to
the Hessian matrix in the following Newton-like update
5: xkþ1 ¼ xk  [JT JþI]1 JT e
where x k is a vector of current weights and biases of neural
network. When the scalar  is equal to zero, the approximate
Hessian is quite the same as the Newton method. When  is
large, this becomes a gradient descent with a small step size.
3. An illustrative study
3.1 Database
The proposed method for the estimation of spectral acceleration
by way of neural networks was applied to the database of the
NGA project including 2880 recorded earthquake accelerograms
classified into three sets according to the faulting mechanism.
The number of earthquake accelerograms for the strike-slip,
reverse and reverse-oblique mechanisms are equal to 800, 1410
and 670, respectively.
Earthquake records have moment magnitudes between 4.5 and
7.9, distances from the recording site to epicentre ranging from
2.3 to 195 km, hypocentre depths between 0.5 and 29 km, and
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average shear-wave velocities in the top 30 m ranging from 116
to 2016 m/s.
All spectral accelerations were calculated with 5% damping ratio
and the values of the spectral acceleration were calculated at 22
discrete frequencies.
3.2 Results
Using the proposed method, the spectral acceleration was deter-
mined by training the neural network. Figure 2 shows the
performance of training of neural networks for different faulting
mechanisms. The Y-axis in this figure represents the mean square
error between the predicted and actual results. As can be seen,
after ten iterations the mean square errors for three types of
faulting mechanism are constant, and also they are near zero. The
number of iterations to reach an optimal solution in the proposed
technique is less. In other words, the presented method converges
towards optimum faster than other algorithms such as the back-
propagation algorithm.
After training the neural networks, the weights and biases of each
layer of neural network can be obtained. Using the computed
weights and biases, the relationship between the input and output
can be established. The form of derived attenuation relationship
depends on the number of layers and the selected transfer
function in the neural network. Most of the studies in the ground
motion prediction by the neural network-based methods have
been presented with no attenuation relationship. Recently, in a
study conducted by Derras et al. (2012), a mathematical equation
was derived to compute peak ground acceleration from earth-
quake parameters.
In this study, for the selected neural network in Figure 1, the
relationship between earthquake parameters and spectral accelera-
tion can be written as follows
log(Sa) ¼

6: W3 3 (tansig W2 3 ½tansig (W1 3 P þ b1 ) þ b2 ) þ b3
where Sa and P are the vectors of spectral acceleration and
earthquake parameters, respectively; tansig represents the tan-
sigmoid transfer function in Matlab software which was selected
as a transfer function in neurons; Wi and b i are the weight and
bias of ith layer of neural network, respectively. The vector P and
the tan-sigmoid transfer function in the presented relationship are
as follows
7: P ¼ [ M w log [R(km)] h(km) V S30 (m=s) ]T
460
Estimation of spectral acceleration based
on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari
10
Strike-slip mechanism
Reverse mechanism
8 Reverse-oblique mechanism
6
E
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20
Iteration
Figure 2. Performance of training of neural networks for different
faulting mechanisms
2
tansig(x) ¼ 1
8: [1 þ exp (2x)]
In Equation 6, the vector Sa gives the spectral accelerations for
the following periods as
T(s) ¼ [0:01 0:02 0:03 0:04 0:05 0:075 0:1 0:15 0:2
9: 0:25 0:3 0:4 0:5 0:75 1 1:5 2 3 4 5 7:5 10]T
For evaluating the trained neural networks, the trained networks
were tested with the data from the training group. The estimated
spectral acceleration from given earthquake parameters should
have the characteristics like the group of accelerograms used in the
training of the neural network. Figure 3 shows two tests of the
trained neural network from the training group of strike-slip
mechanism for the Chi-Chi, Taiwan-04 earthquake at CHY034 site
and the Manjil, Iran earthquake at Rudsar site. By comparing the
actual and estimated spectral acceleration it is clearly demon-
strated that the trained neural networks have learnt the training
cases very well. For reverse mechanism, Figure 4 shows the
performance of the trained neural network for Northridge-01
earthquake at Jensen Filter Plant Generator site and Tabas, Iran
earthquake at Dayhook site. Also, the obtained results of the neural
network for reverse-oblique mechanism from the training group
for Loma Prieta earthquake at LGPC site and Whittier Narrows-01
earthquake at LA-N Figueroa St site are shown in Figure 5.
For testing the trained neural networks with new earthquakes,
Figure 6 shows two tests of trained neural networks for strike-slip
mechanism for Erzican, Turkey earthquake at Erzincan site and
Parkfield earthquake at Cholame–Shandon Array No. 8 site. As
can be seen in Figure 6(a), the estimated spectral accelerations
for periods less than 0.4 s are close to the actual spectral
accelerations, whereas there are some differences between the
Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

100 101
Actual Actual
Estimated Estimated

10⫺1
100
Sa: g

10⫺2

Sa: g
10⫺1

10⫺3
10⫺2

10⫺4 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s 10⫺3 ⫺2
(a) 10 10⫺1 100 101
100 Period: s
(a)
Actual
Estimated 101
Actual
Estimated

10⫺1
100
Sa: g

Sa: g

10⫺1
10⫺2

10⫺2

10⫺3 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s
(b)
10⫺3 ⫺2
Figure 3. Test of neural network for strike-slip mechanism from 10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s
the training group: (a) Chi-Chi, Taiwan-04 earthquake at CHY034 (b)
site; and (b) Manjil, Iran earthquake at Rudsar site
Figure 4. Test of neural network for reverse mechanism from the
training group: (a) Northridge-01 earthquake at Jensen Filter Plant
Generator site; and (b) Tabas, Iran earthquake at Dayhook site
actual and estimated spectral accelerations for periods larger than
0.4 s. Also, the obtained results for the types of reverse and
reverse-oblique mechanisms are shown in Figures 7 and 8,
respectively. There are good compatibilities between the original Figures 6–8, the predicted spectral accelerations are smooth,
and predicted accelerations in most of the periods shown in which is like a design spectrum, whereas response spectra are not
Figures 7(a), 8(a), and 8(b), but we do not have good compat- smooth. As a result, the proposed method can find a design
ibility in the obtained results in Figure 7(b). As can be seen in spectrum for given earthquake parameters as the new input of

461
Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

101 101
Actual
Estimated

100

100
Sa: g

Sa: g
10⫺1

10⫺1

10⫺2

Actual
Estimated
10⫺2 ⫺2 ⫺1 10⫺3 ⫺2
10⫺1
0
10 10 10 101 10 100 101
Period: s Period: s
(a) (a)

100 101
Actual
Estimated

10⫺1 100
Sa: g

Sa: g

10⫺2 10⫺1

10⫺3 10⫺2

Actual
Estimated
10⫺4 ⫺2 10⫺3 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101 10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s Period: s
(b) (b)

Figure 5. Test of neural network for reverse-oblique mechanism Figure 6. Test of neural network for strike-slip mechanism with
from the training group: (a) Loma Prieta earthquake at LGPC site; new earthquake: (a) Erzican, Turkey earthquake at Erzincan site;
and (b) Whittier Narrows-01 earthquake at LA-N Figueroa St site and (b) Parkfield earthquake at Cholame–Shandon Array No. 8
site

neural network, and it cannot predict the response spectrum of a
new earthquake. It is not possible to estimate a response spectrum
by moment magnitude, distance from the recording site to
epicentre, hypocentre depth and average shear-wave velocity. In
addition, the main objective of the presented method is to
estimate a design spectrum by means of earthquake parameters.
Thus, some differences between the estimated design spectrum
and the response spectrum are acceptable.
It is interesting to determine whether the trained neural networks
are able to estimate the spectral accelerations for given para-
meters such as earthquake magnitude, style of faulting, depth to

462
Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

100 10⫺1
Actual Actual
Estimated Estimated

10⫺2

10⫺1

Sa: g
Sa: g

10⫺3

10⫺2

10⫺4

10⫺3 ⫺2 10⫺5 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101 10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s Period: s
(a) (a)

101 101
Actual Actual
Estimated Estimated

100 100
Sa: g
Sa: g

10⫺1 10⫺1

10⫺2 10⫺2

10⫺3 ⫺2 10⫺3 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101 10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s Period: s
(b) (b)

Figure 7. Test of neural network for reverse mechanism with new Figure 8. Test of neural network for reverse-oblique mechanism
earthquake: (a) Taiwan SMART1(45) earthquake at SMART1 O06 with new earthquake: (a) Northridge-04 earthquake at LA
site; and (b) Northridge-01 earthquake at Jensen Filter Plant site University Hospital site; and (b) Loma Prieta earthquake at WAHO
site

top of fault rupture, source-to site distance and the average shear-
wave velocity of sediments. When earthquake parameters are the
input of neural networks, the trained neural networks predict a
spectral acceleration as the output of neural network that are
compatible with certain parameters. One can use the presented
method to estimate a spectral acceleration for the purpose of
seismic hazard analysis in seismic zones. Moreover, the proposed
approach can be used to study the effect of a given parameter on
spectral acceleration. Figure 9, for example, shows the obtained
results of spectral accelerations with different magnitudes for
reverse-oblique mechanism, VS30 ¼ 300 m/s, R ¼ 10 km and
h ¼ 15 km.
To study the performance of trained neural networks, Figure 10

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Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

101 acceleration at period 1.0 s are shown in Figure 11. In this period,
there is not much dispersion in the results and most of the results
100 are near zero. For reverse mechanism, the residual results of
spectral acceleration at period 0.5 and 1.0 s are presented in
Figures 12 and 13, respectively. The information provided by
10⫺1
these figures is identical to the information provided by Figures
Sa: g

10 and 11, and there are no significant differences in the results.

10⫺2

Mw ⫽ 5·5 Based on the obtained results, the range of parameters for the
10⫺3 Mw ⫽ 6·0 application of the presented method is as follows: moment
Mw ⫽ 6·5 magnitudes between 5 to 7.5, distances from the recording site to
Mw ⫽ 7·0
10⫺4 ⫺2
epicentre ranging from 10 to 150 km, hypocentre depths between
10 10⫺1 100 101 5 to 25 km, and average shear-wave velocities in the top 30 m
Period: s
ranging from 200 to 1000 m/s.
Figure 9. Obtained results of spectral acceleration for different
magnitudes (reverse-oblique mechanism, VS30 ¼ 300 m/s, 3.3 Comparison of results with other models
R ¼ 10 km, and h ¼ 15 km) A comparison between the obtained results for spectral accelera-
tion in this study and the attenuation relationships from previous
studies such as Campbell and Bozorgnia (2008) and Chiou and
Youngs (2008) was performed in this section. Since the data set
indicates the residual results between the estimated and actual of Campbell and Bozorgnia (2008) and Chiou and Youngs (2008)
spectral acceleration at period 0.5 s for the strike-slip mechanism. are on the basis of the NGA project, they are appropriate for
As can be seen, the residual results for most of the magnitudes, comparison.
distances, depths, and shear-wave velocities are between 0.4 to
0.4, but there are few data that have large value for residual Figure 14 shows a comparison between the proposed method for
results. Also, the obtained residual results for the spectral strike-slip mechanism and some previous studies. Overall, there

2 2

1 1
Residual
Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
5 6 7 8 5 10 15 20 25
Mw h: km

2 2

1 1
Residual
Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
0 50 100 150 200 200 400 600 800 1000
R: km Vs: m/s

Figure 10. Residual results for estimated spectral acceleration at

period of 0.5 s for strike-slip mechanism

464
Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

2 2

1 1

Residual
Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
5 6 7 8 5 10 15 20 25
Mw h: km
2 2

1 1
Residual

Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
0 50 100 150 200 200 400 600 800 1000
R: km Vs: m/s

Figure 11. Residuals for estimated spectral acceleration at period

of 1.0 s for strike-slip mechanism

2 2

1 1
Residual

Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
5·0 5·5 6·0 6·5 7·0 7·5 5 10 15
Mw h: km

2 2

1 1
Residual
Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
50 100 150 200 400 600 800 1000
R: km Vs: m/s

Figure 12. Residuals for estimated spectral acceleration at period

of 0.5 s for reverse mechanism

465
Structures and Buildings Estimation of spectral acceleration based
Volume 167 Issue SB8 on neural networks
Bakhshi, Bagheri, Ghodrati Amiri and
Barkhordari

2 2

1 1
Residual

Residual
0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
5·0 5·5 6·0 6·5 7·0 7·5 5 10 15
Mw h: km

2 2

1 1
Residual

Residual

0 0

⫺1 ⫺1

⫺2 ⫺2
50 100 150 200 400 600 800 1000
R: km Vs: m/s

Figure 13. Residuals for estimated spectral acceleration at period

of 1.0 s for reverse mechanism.

101 comparison of the spectral acceleration results for reverse

mechanism is shown in Figure 15. As can be seen, there is good
compatibility between the results of this work and the Chiou and
100 Youngs model for most of the periods, and there are some
Sa: g

10⫺1 100

10⫺2 This study

Campbell and Bozorgnia (2008) 10⫺1
Chiou and Youngs (2008)
Sa: g

10⫺3 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s
10⫺2
Figure 14. Comparison of the proposed model of spectral
acceleration with other models for strike-slip mechanism This study
Campbell and Bozorgnia (2008)
(VS30 ¼ 450 m/s, Mw ¼ 6.5, R ¼ 15 km, and h ¼ 10 km) Chiou and Youngs (2008)
10⫺3 ⫺2
10 10⫺1 100 101
Period: s

is no significant difference between the results of the neural Figure 15. Comparison of the proposed model of spectral
network-based method and the NGA models, but there is a little acceleration with other models for reverse mechanism
difference between the obtained results of the present study and (VS30 ¼ 400 m/s, Mw ¼ 7.0, R ¼ 20 km, and h ¼ 10 km)
the Chiou and Youngs model at periods 0.3 to 1.5 s. The

466
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differences in the results of the Campbell and Bozorgnia model
and the presented approach at periods 0.2 to 2.5 s.
Finally, it can be concluded that the obtained results through the
comparison of the spectral acceleration results with those from
other attenuation relationships demonstrate that neural networks-
based method can be effectively and reliably used in the
estimation of spectral acceleration.
4. Conclusion
An efficient method by means of feed-forward neural networks
for the estimation of spectral acceleration compatible with earth-
quake parameters was proposed in this paper. The presented
method was based on a feed-forward neural network which takes
the earthquake parameters such as moment magnitude, distance
from the recording site to epicentre, hypocentre depth and
average shear-wave velocity in the top 30 m as input and
produces the spectral acceleration of the earthquake accelero-
gram as the output of the neural network for any faulting
mechanism. In this study, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm
was employed for the training of neural networks, because the
number of iterations to reach an optimal solution in this
technique was less.
In an illustrative example, the proposed method was applied to
the database of the NGA project. In order to examine the
adequacy of the trained neural networks, when given earthquake
parameters were used as inputs, the neural networks either
estimate spectral acceleration very close to the one from its
training set or synthesise a new and realistic-looking spectral
acceleration. It is shown that the estimated response spectra are
similar to the original response spectra. In addition, spectral
accelerations for different magnitudes compatible with earth-
quake parameters were estimated. Considering that the equation
of attenuation relationship is an important issue in the real
applications of seismic hazard analyses, the paper presented the
mathematical relationship between parameters and spectral ac-
celeration and the obtained results showed that the proposed
method is robust and promising. Lastly, the spectral acceleration
results using the presented method were compared with those
from the NGA models and concluded that artificial neural
networks can be reliably employed in the prediction of spectral
acceleration.
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