Abstract

New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) in the United States, is one the most active dangereous seismic zones, where NS and EW highways are crossing. According to the satellite data in this zone, during the strongest earthquakes of 1811-1812, a lot of liquefaction phenomena were observed in the Missisipi embankment. Based on historical and intensity data, the moment magnitude of the strongest shock of 12/16/1811 at 02h15m a.m. earthquake, is propsed to be Mw = 7.0-7.5. As there is a lack of strong motion data, for the study of nonlinear site response analysis of two sites under bridge construction, synthetic accelerograms were used. For determination of soil profiles, SASW technique was used and compared with other in-situ techniques. This paper focuses on the engineering significance of the geophysical methods used for the purpose ground response analysis.