Seismic Microzonation And Rpa Site Classification Map Of Sidi Abdellah New Town, Northern Algeria

Fifteen 30 m deep boreholes are drilled in the area of sidi abdellah new town, northern Algeria in order to obtain cores for dynamic tests and vertical seismic profiles for an updated microzonation map related to earthquake wave amplification. The primary goal was to generate the RPA (Algerian code for the seismic design for building ( RPA 99/V 2003 )) soil classification map for Sidi Abdellah new town using the average shear wave velocity values derived from the down hole data. The RPA map of the study area generated from these data closely matched the surficial geologic map. Areas mapped on the existing surficial geology map as either alluvium soils have weighted average shear-wave velocity values of 30 m depth (Vs(30)) ranging from 277 to 400 m/s, corresponding to RPA soil class C.

Potential soil site amplification on a local scale has been estimated using fundamental resonance frequencies and amplitudes from microtremor HVSR techniques. This study provides an initial attempt to understand and characterize the seismic site response, as well as the velocity structure, and its distribution in Sidi Abdellah New Town and its surrounding area.