An Updated Strong-Motion Database of Türkiye with an Automatic Data Processing Algorithm

Abstract

The earthquake strong-motion database of Türkiye (SMD-TR) is the updated version of the dataset that is initially compiled by Akkar et al. (2010). The updated dataset is composed of 9244 earthquakes of magnitudes 3.0 ≤ M ≤ 7.8 that occurred between 1976 and 2023. It includes 95890 three-component waveforms recorded at 1,022 stations (55375 records are processed). The database includes event metadata compiled from national and international seismological agencies as well as literature. Events were classified according to their tectonic environments (i.e., active crustal and subduction) and the aftershocks were flagged. The station information provided by AFAD was used to compute the main site parameters, including time-based average of shear-wave velocity of uppermost 30 m (VS30) and depth-to-rock horizon at which the shear wave-velocity (VS) attains 1 km/s (Z1). Necessary finite-fault distance metrics were calculated and records with hanging wall effects were flagged, as well as pulse-like records. An automatic processing scheme was developed to determine the waveform quality, apply appropriate filters to remove low- and high-frequency noise, and compute ground motion parameters. The automatic processing was applied to small magnitude (M<5.5) events whereas manual processing scheme is preferred for waveforms recorded from larger events (M≥5.5). The peak ground motion values, spectral ordinates, and ground-motion duration are provided along with the key data processing parameters in the flatfile.