Ambient Noise H/V Spectral Ratio in Site Effect Estimation in La Mesa de Macaracas, Panama

In the last 10 years, the community of La Mesa de Macaracas (central Panama) has experienced considerable aftershocks due to earthquakes of magnitudes up to 5.7 Mw. Although most of the community consists of single-storey houses, the agricultural development in the region has led to multistorey building projects. To determine whether the characteristics of the soils could affect future construction in the study area, 16 stations were established to measure ambient vibrations and estimate the predominant frequencies and their corresponding H/V ratio peaks through the ambient noise H/V spectral ratio technique. According to the site class established by the Japan Road Association, the results revealed the existence of (a) soft soil with a range of predominant frequencies between 0.7 and 1.6 Hz, (b) medium soil with a range of predominant frequencies between 2.1 and 2.4 Hz, and (c) hard soil with a range of predominant frequencies between 2.6 and 2.9 Hz. In the first type (soft), the resonance effect could affect constructions of between 6 and 14 storeys with H/V ratio peak values (amplification factor) in the range of 2.1 and 4.3, while in the second and third types (medium and hard soils), buildings of between 3 and 5 storeys could be affected, with H/V ratio peak values (1.5-2.0) except at the SS-9 station. These results were complemented with the V(s)30 values obtained in four seismic soundings carried out at the site.