Investigation of Local Site Responses at the Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey

Hakan Alcik – PhD, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Earthquake
Engineering Department, e-mail: alcik@boun.edu.tr
Gülüm Tanircan – Assoc. Prof., PhD, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research
Institute, Earthquake Engineering Department, e-mail: birgore@boun.edu.tr
Abstract: Bodrum Peninsula is situated on the southwest coast of Turkey, near the Aegean
Sea coast. The Peninsula extends ~42 km in the E-W direction and ~15 km in the N-S direction
between the Gulfs of Güllük and Gökova. The Bodrum peninsula with a population over a
million in summer season is one the touristic centers of Turkey. The region is also surrounded
by numerous active seismic entities such as Ula-Ören Fault Zone, Gökova Graben, eastern
part of the Volcanic Arc and Hellenic Arc-Trench System etc. These systems demonstrate
high seismic hazard and pose a great threat to settlements in and around the region.
Considering the high seismic risk and high population of the peninsula, a strong ground
motion monitoring system, consists of five accelerometric stations, was deployed in June 2015
by Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI),
Earthquake Engineering Department. Three out of five stations (B1, B2 and B3) are on
alluvium sediment. The rests are on Limestone (B4) and Volcanic rock (B5). Up to now the
network has recorded more than 100 earthquakes. Among the dataset, 25 events with
magnitudes (Ml) from 3.0-5.5 occurred within 200 km epicentral distances were selected for
site effect calculation. Predominant frequencies and amplification values of shallow soil
layers under the stations were estimated through Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio and
Standard Spectral Ratios. The results indicate that (1) predominant frequencies change
between 2.1 - 3.5 Hz for soft soils, where it is 5.8 Hz for the reference site, (2) relative
amplifications are in the range of 2.3 - 6.8, and (3) empirically estimated sediments thickness
beneath the B1, B2 and B3 stations vary between 35.6 - 64.2 m.

Keywords: Bodrum peninsula, accelerometric network, H/V ratio, spectral ratio

1. Introduction

The southwest coasts are the most important touristic centers of Turkey. One of these centers
is the Bodrum peninsula with a population over one million in summer season. The region
is also located in one of the seismically active regions of the southeast Aegean Sea and
surrounded by numerous active seismic entities such as Ula-Ören Fault Zone, Gökova
Graben (Kalafat and Horasan 2012; Yolsal and Taymaz 2010), Datça faults (Dirik 1997),
eastern part of the Volcanic Arc and Hellenic Arc-Trench System (Papadopoulos et al.
2007; Sakkas et al. 2014) (Figure 1). All of those systems have capability of producing large
magnitude earthquakes. Frequent occurrence of historical destructive and instrumental
earthquakes clearly demonstrates high seismic hazard in Bodrum and its surrounding area.
Among destructive historical earthquakes, 1493 Kos event (Mw=6.94±0.32) caused
complete collapse of the Bodrum district. 1741 (Mw=7.54±0.30), 1863 (Mw=7.5±0.30) and
1869 (Mw=6.77±0.37) are other the important earthquakes (SHEEC 2017, Yolsal and
Taymaz 2010). In the instrumental period seismic activity in the Gökova region includes
M>6 earthquakes: 23 April 1933 (Ms=6.4), 23 May 1941 (Ms=6.0) and 13 December 1941
(Ms=6.5) events (Kalafat and Horasan 2012). Among above mentioned faults, Gökova
graben system poses larger hazard due to its close proximity to Bodrum region. This fault
zone has a potential to produce earthquakes varying in size from M6.9 to M7.8 and annual
probability of occurence of a M7+ earthquake has been estimated as 2% (Demircioğlu 2010).
The whole region falls into 1st degree seismic zone, being the highest (AFAD, 2017) in the
seismic zonation map of Turkey.
Despite its high seismicity, only three stations are in service at the region for seismological
monitoring purposes. Hence, with the aim of collecting accurate and reliable data for
engineering and scientific research purposes a strong ground motion monitoring system,
shortly B-network consists of 5 accelerometric stations (Figure 2), has been set up in 2015
(Alcik et al. 2015).

Fig. 1 - Active fault map of the Gulf of Gökova (red and black lines: strike-slip and normal faults
respectively; blue lines are reverse faults and folds (Işcan et al. 2013). Inset The geodynamic framework of
the Eastern Mediterranean (tenVeen et al. 2009)

Fig. 2 - Distribution of the B-Network stations at the Bodrum peninsula (B1=Bodrum downtown,
B2=Turgutreis, B3=Yalikavak, B4=Yali-Ciftlik, B5=Ortakent). B4 station is situated outside of the map, on
the eastern side of the B1 station. Geological sketch map is taken from Ulusoy et al. (2004).

There are little known about the site effects of the Bodrum Peninsula. During the literature
survey, the authors have not come across any site related study for this particular region.
Hence, in this study it is aimed to utilize the B-network seismic data for the calculation of
the predominant frequencies and amplification values of shallow soil layers under the
network stations.

2. Methods

Two very well-known methods were employed for the calculation; Horizontal-to-Vertical
Spectral Ratio (HVSR) and Standard Spectra Ratio (SSR).

2.1. Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR or H/V) Method

The HVSR technique applied to ambient noise recordings (Nakamura 1989) has been
extensively used in recent times to estimate the site effects. The spectral ratio between the
horizontal and the vertical components of the recorded motion eliminates the contributions
of the Rayleigh waves, but it conserves the effects resulting from the geological structure of
the site (Gök and Polat 2012; Lermo and Chavez-Garcia 1994; Nakamura 1989; Yalçınkaya
and Alptekin 2005). Although the theoretical basis of the method is controversial, technique
has been validated by both simulations and earthquake recordings (i.e., Flores et al., 2013;
Lermo and Chavez-Garcia 1993; Parolai et al. 2002). In HVSR method only a 3-components
record of one station is required. The transfer function (TF) at the measurement point is
calculated by the following equation:

( )= ( )/ ( )
(1)
where Hs(f) is the amplitude spectra of the horizontal components, and Vs(f) is the amplitude
spectrum of the vertical component (Dikmen et al. 2013).

2.2. Standard Spectral Ratio (SSR) Method

The SSR technique was first used by Borcherdt (1970) near San Francisco Bay, California.
The method involves comparison of pairs of records from nearby stations, one representing
a soil (an alluvial) site and the other representing a reference (a rock) site (Gök et al. 2012;
Şafak 1997). Distance between the stations must be much smaller than their hypocentral
distances, so that the source and path effects on the records are nearly identical (Şafak 1997).
Therefore, any differences in the records can be attributed to site effects. This method is
required two horizontal component records of two stations and has been to use spectral ratio,
the ratio of the Fourier amplitude spectrum of the soil site recording to that of the rock site
recording (Borcherdt 1970; Mittal et al. 2013; Şafak 1997). Transfer function (TF) of the
measurement points is calculated by the following equation:

( )= ( )/ ( )
(2)
where Hs(f) and HR(f) denote the smoothed horizontal component of Fourier amplitude
spectrum at the site of interest and reference site respectively (Dikmen et al. 2013). SSR
method is considered as the most reliable method in determining the effects of local site
conditions (Yalçınkaya and Alptekin 2003).
3. Data Set and Analyses

B-network was put into action on the 2nd June 2015 and till now it is fully operational with
five stations. The network consists of 18-bit digitizers and acquisition modules of GeoSIG
Limited, CMG-5T accelerometers of Guralp Systems Limited, DC batteries, GPS units and
3G modems. It has been stationed in dense settlements in the Bodrum Peninsula and
generally located at grade level in small and medium-sized buildings of the Municipality and
the primary schools: Bodrum (B1), Turgutreis (B2), Yalikavak (B3), Ciftlik (B4) and
Ortakent (B5). B1, B2 and B3 are on Alluvial sediment, B4 is on Limestone and B5 is on
Volcanic rock (Figure 2) (Table 1). These geological explanations were taken from the
1:500,000 scale geology map of Turkey, Denizli sheet (MTA 2012). Soil profiles of the sites
are not currently available.
So far, more than 100 earthquakes have been recorded by the network. The dataset used here
consists of 25 earthquakes. Local magnitudes range from 3.0 to 5.5 and epicentral distances
range from 1 km to 200 km with amplitude values of all acceleration records are greater than
1 mg. The information of these earthquakes is listed in Table 2.

Table 1
Stations information
Latitude - Longitude Altitude Geological
Station Location
(N) (E) (m) information
B1 37.037° - 27.424° Bodrum downtown 8 Alluvial
B2 37.007° - 27.257° Turgutreis 4 Alluvial
B3 37.102° - 27.293° Yalikavak 7 Alluvial
B4 37.023° - 27.563° Yali-Ciftlik 87 Limestone
B5 37.047° - 27.347° Ortakent 28 Volcanic Rock

Table 2
Earthquake lists used in this study
No Date and Time Latitude - Longitude Magnitude Depth
(UTC) (N) (E) (ML) (km)
1 20150529 08:02:51 36.916° - 27.607° 3.9 1.5
2 20150709 10:41:35 36.857° - 29.963° 4.3 7.5
3 20150719 20:32:07 37.074° - 27.499° 3.7 7.6
4 20150724 09:58:37 36.639° - 26.798° 4.7 131.8
5 20150913 02:57:26 37.128° - 28.890° 4.5 3.7
6 20151020 19:00:50 39.941° - 28.043° 3.8 5.0
7 20151023 18:29:39 37.996° - 26.820° 4.0 8.0
8 20151226 11:00:50 35.488° - 27.393° 5.4 14.8
9 20160223 21:32:43 37.263° - 26.855° 3.4 5.0
10 20160226 18:32:16 37.058° - 27.618° 3.8 3.8
11 20160312 15:44:34 36.571° - 27.971° 4.1 84.1
12 20160318 19:22:34 36.720° - 26.701° 3.5 8.2
13 20160505 07:34:08 36.890° - 26.453° 3.8 5.0
14 20160612 09:2250 36.957° - 27.948° 3.8 5.0
15 20160614 14:43:57 37.175° - 26.850° 3.6 4.1
16 20160719 01:55:42 37.181° - 26.851° 4.0 5.9
17 20160813 21:38:03 37.020° - 27.391° 3.1 7.3
18 20160906 05:27:26 36.337° - 28.166° 4.4 50.9
19 20160909 10:45:09 36.933° - 27.577° 3.0 6.6
20 20160927 20:57:07 36.386° - 27.585° 5.4 83.3
 21 20161017 01:30:30 37.906° - 26.891° 4.7 8.3
22 20161105 07:35:48 36.982° - 27.386° 3.2 5.0
23 20161220 06:03:43 36.565° - 26.927° 5.4 118.8
24 20170125 01:19:33 36.797° - 27.657° 4.2 7.9
25 20170125 18:50:52 35.445° - 26.448° 5.5 21.7

The SSR and the HVSR methods were used to determine site effects at the stations. Data
processing was done using MATLAB® (http://www.mathworks.com/) software codes in
accordance with the techniques mentioned above.
Before computing the spectral ratios, all recorded time-series were visually checked to
identify possible inaccurate measurements. The records with signal-to-noise ratio greater
than 3 were kept in the analyses. The full-length records were de-trended, baseline corrected
and band-pass filtered between 0.05 and 20 Hz. In the analysis of both methods, the same
data processing procedure was followed except for data window lengths to be processed.
The window lengths were selected 30s after the S-wave of earthquake accelerograms for
SSR method, and 60s after the P-wave for HVSR method. Selected data were windowed by
a 5% cosine taper before performing a Fast Fourier Transform. Each spectrum was smoothed
by a Hamming window following Şafak (1997). Then, spectral ratios, and finally, mean
spectral ratios for each site were computed (Figure 3-4).

Fig. 3 - HVSR results

 Fig. 4 - SSR results

4. Results

Examining HVSR data, it was found out that predominant frequencies change between 2.1-
3.5 Hz for soft soils, where it is 5.8 Hz for B5. Hence for SSR analyses B5 was selected as
the reference site. SSR spectra show that relative amplifications are in the range of 2.3 to 6.8
(Table 3). Even though B1, B2 and B3 stations rest on similar geological units, B1 gives the
lowest relative amplification. Since shear wave velocity profiles of the stations are not
available, authors can not make a direct comparison between the profiles, Vs30 and
amplifications but for further analyses Vs30 information will be obtained from Bodrum
Municipality or related institutions. In general both HVSR and SSR spectra show similar
trend.
It is also possible to estimate the bedrock depth of the soil under stations based on a previous
empirical equation given by Birgoren et al. (2009). The equation is

.
= 150.99 ∗
(3)
In this equation fr denotes resonance frequency (~predominant frequency) of a site and H is
bedrock depth. Estimated values under B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 stations are 36m, 64m, 48m,
53m and 20m, respectively (Table 3). Comparing these findings with the geological map of
the region (Figure 2), it was found out that thickness associated with resonance frequencies
are in remarkable agreement with surface geology information. Thickness to bedrock is the
highest at Turgutreis valley, the largest alluvial valley of the region and lowest at the Bodrum
downtown, the smallest alluvial valley of the region.
However, it is difficult to say that there is a linear relation between the site amplification and
the estimated thickness as a result of the maximum amplification was calculated at B3
station, since amplification is also directly related with impedance contrast of the layers.
 Table 3
HVSR, SSR and H results
Predominant Soil Estimated
Ratio
Station frequency (Hz) Amplification bedrock depth
(HVSR) (SSR) (m)
B1 3.5 B1/B5 2.3 35.6
B2 2.1 B2/B5 4.9 64.2
B3 2.7 B3/B5 6.8 48.0
B4 2.5 B4/B5 3.0 52.5
B5 5.8 - - 19.9

5. Conclusion

In the present study an attempt has been made to calculate predominant frequencies and
amplification values considering local site effects related to the Bodrum peninsula. We
estimated site effects using the standard spectral ratio and horizontal-to-vertical ratio
techniques. For this purpose, a set of time histories contains 106 acceleration records, totally
25 earthquakes with different magnitudes and epicentral distances were analyzed.
The results of analyses indicate that (1) predominant frequencies change between 2.1 - 3.5
Hz for soft soils, where it is 5.8 Hz for the reference site B5; (2) relative amplifications are
in the range of 2.3 to 6.8; and (3) estimated thicknesses of sediments beneath the B1, B2 and
B3 stations vary between 35.6 - 64.2 m.
The results are believed to motivate research groups to perform further geotechical
investigations for the Bodrum Peninsula, in particular, regions with thick soil deposits.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Boğaziçi University Scientific Research Project Funds (Project
#10260/15TP2).

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