Stochastic 1D site response analysis at a site in central Italy

Site response analysis is strongly influenced by the uncertainty associated to the definition of soil properties and model parameters. Deterministic, or even parametric analyses are unable to systematically assess such uncertainty, since the site characterisation can hardly be sufficiently accurate for a deterministic prediction of site response and alternative approaches are hence needed. A fully stochastic procedure for estimating the site amplification of ground motion is proposed and applied to a case study in central Italy. The methodology allows to take into account the record-to-record variability in an input ground motion and the uncertainty in dynamic soil properties and in the definition of the soil model. In particular, their effect on response spectra at the ground surface is evaluated.