Current state of integrated earthquake simulation for earthquake hazard and disaster.

Abstract  This paper presents the current state of integrated simulation for earthquake hazard and disaster. This simulation takes advantage of the macro–micro analysis method; this method estimates an earthquake’s strong motion with high spatial and temporal resolution, using the bounding medium theory to obtain optimistic and pessimistic estimates of expected strong motion distribution and the singular perturbation expansion that results in an efficient multi-scale analysis. Integrated earthquake simulation calculates seismic responses for all structures in a target area, inputting simulated strong ground motion to a structure analysis method that is plugged into the system by means of a wrapper; a suitable method, linear or nonlinear, is chosen depending on the type of the structure. The results of all simulations are visualized so that residences and government officials can share a common recognition of earthquake hazard and disaster. Two examples of this integrated earthquake simulations are presented; one is made by plugging nonlinear structure analysis methods into the system, and the other is made for an actual city, the computer model of which is constructed with the help of available geographical information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]