Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea Area: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, held at Utrecht, The Netherlands, June 1–4, 1982

422 Pages·1983·13.55 MB·English

by  Peter A. Ziegler (auth.), A. Reinier Ritsema, Aybars Gürpinar (eds.)

Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea Area
NATO ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTES SERIES
Proceedings of the Advanced Study Institute Programme, which aims
at the dissemination ofa dvanced knowledge and
the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries
The series is published by an international board of publishers in conjunction
with NATO Scientific Affairs Division
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and Physical Dordrecht, Boston and London
Sciences
D Behavioural and
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E Engineering and The Hague, London and Boston
Materials Sciences
F Computer and Springer Verlag
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G Ecological Sciences
Series C - Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Volume 99 - Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea Area
Seismicity and Seismic Risk
in' the
Offshore North Sea Area
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop,
held at Utrecht, The Netherlands, June 1-4,1982
edited by
A. REINIER RITSEMA
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt, The Netherlands
and
A YBARS GURPINAR
Specialized Engineering Consulting Service (SPECS), Brussels, Belgium
D. Reidel Publishing Company
Dordrecht: Holland / Boston: U.S.A. / London: England
Published in cooperation with NATO Scientific Affairs Division
library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Seismicity and seismic risk in the offshore North Sea area.
(NATO advanced study institutes series. Series C, Mathematical and
physical sciences; v. 99)
"Workshop on the Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea
Area" -introd.
"Published in cooperation with NATO Scientific Affairs Division."
Includes indexes.
1. Seismology-North Sea-Congresses. 2. Earthquake prediction-
Congresses. I. Ritsema, A. Reinier (Anne Reinier) II. Giirpinar, Aybars.
DI. Workshop on the Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea
Area (1982 : Utrecht, Netherlands) IV. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Scientific Affairs Division. V. Series.
QE536.2.N67S44 1983 551.2'2'0916336 82-21624
ISBN-13: 978-94-009-7048-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-7046-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-7046-5
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SEISMICITY AND SEISMIC RISK IN THE
OFFSHORE NORTH SEA AREA
ADVANCED RESEARCH WORKSHOP
June 1-4, 1982, Hotel Des Pays-Bas, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Sponsored by and organized on behalf of the
SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION
Co-sponsored by:
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
Scientific Directors:
A. R. Ritsema A. Giirpmar
KNMI, De Bilt SPECS, Brussels
Netherlands Belgium
Advisory Committee:
P. W. Burton J.-M. van Gils P. SeInes
IGS, Edinburgh ORB, Brussels NGI, Oslo
United Kingdom Belgium Norway
Invited Lecturers:
P. A. Ziegler F. Ringdal P. Melchior
SIPM, 's-Gravenhage NORSAR, Kjeller ORB, Brussels
Netherlands Norway Belgium
C. W. A. Browitt H. L. Koning N. N. Ambraseys
IGS, Edinburgh SML, Delft Imp. Coll., London
United Kingdom Netherlands United Kingdom
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION xi
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS xvii
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS xxi
SECTION 1: GEOLOGY AND TECTONICS
P.A. ZIEGLER / Tectonics of the North Sea Basin and
their possible relation to historical earthquakes 3
C.A. DAVENPORT / North Sea seismotectonics and the role
of geology in offshore seismic risk assessment 15
A.D. GIBBS / Constraints on seismo-tectonic models
for the North Sea 31
R.M. WOOD / What happens to the Rhine Graben "sub-plate
boundary" where it meets the S. North Sea? 35
H.A. VAN ADRICHEM BOOGAERT / Geology and tectonics. Panel
Discussion. Introductory remarks 43
P.B. SELNES / Note: Possible neotectonic fault movements
in Norway 47
DISCUSSION 49
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 2: SEISMICITY
F. RINGDAL / Seismicity of the North Sea Area 53
J.-M. VAN GILS / Some problems concerning the seismicity
of the North Sea area 77
A.R. RITSEMA / Non-random distribution of earthquakes
in the North Sea basin area 89
L. AHORNER / Seismicity and neotectonic structural activity
of the Rhine Graben system in Central Europe 101
J. HJELME / Removal of Ghosts 113
E. PETERSCHMITT (presented by Hoang Trong Pho)/ Commen-
taires sur une carte seismique de la Her du Nord
et de la Mer de Norvege 115
DISCUSSION 121
SECTION 3: TIDES J OCEAN WAVES AND SEA LEVEL CHANGES
P. MELCHIOR / Tidal research and seismicity 127
J.G. DE RONDE / Changes of relative mean sea-level and
of mean tidal amplitude along the Dutch coast 131
E. BOUWS and J.J.E. FOTTGENS / Extreme values of wind
speed and wave height in the North Sea for
defining design criteria of offshore installations 143
K. HOVE / Note: Seaquakes, an hazard to offshore
platforms? 149
DISCUSSION 151
SECTION 4: INSTRUMENTATION
T. TURBITT, C.W.A. BROWITT, S.N. MORGAN, R. NEWMARK &
D.L. PETRIE / Instrumentation for North Sea
seismic data acquisition 155
M.D. ERDIK / Strong motion earthquake data acquisition
and processing 173
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
H. EWOLDSEN / Ocean bottom seismic instrumentation 183
J.G. DE GIJT and W.R. VAN HOOYDONK / Testing methods
related to soil- and structure behaviour under
dynamic loading 187
A.R. RITSEMA / Note on the detection and location
capabili ty of' the Netherlands seismic stations
f'or earthquakes in the North Sea basin 195
DISCUSSION 199
SECTION 5: SOILMECHANICS~ LIQUEFACT~ONJ GEOTECHNOLOGY
H.L. KONING / Some remarks on the contribution of' geo-
technical engineering to an E~stimation of' seismic
risk 203
P.B. SELNES / Problems in soil meehanics and earthquake
engineering in the North Sea 219
O.T. GUDMESTAD / Seismic data requirements f'or the
design of' fixed platf'orms in the of'f'shore North
Sea area 235
D.W.F. SENNER / Evaluation of' sta'oility of' North Sea
sites 249
Y. ZACZEK / Seismology: a geotechnical engineer's
view point 261
D.J. MALLARD / Testing f'or liquef'action potential 289
G. NOLET / Modeling of' strong ground motion from
earthquakes 303
DISCUSSION 311
SECTION 6: RISK ANALYSIS
N.N. AMBRASEYS / Evaluation of seismic risk 317
P.W. BURTON, I.G. MAIN & G. NEILSON / Seismic risk and
the North Sea 347
x TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GURPINAR / On some problems concerning seismic risk
assessment for offshore structures in the North Sea 365
G. WOO / Uncertainty in U.K. seismic hazard analysis 377
W. ROSENHAUER / Methodological aspects encountered In
the Lower Rhine area seismic hazard analysis 385
O.A. SANDVIN / Outline of procedure for total seismic
risk estimation 397
INDEX 405
INTRODUCTION
The Workshop on the Seismicity and Seismic Risk in the Off-
shore North Sea Area was intended to bring together experts from
a variety of disciplines as well as interest groups with involve-
ment in siting, design and construction of offshore structures
in the region. Participants came from the fields of geology,
seismology, oceanography, geotechnical and structural engineering
and risk analysis. The wide range of participant affiliations
included institutes, Observatories, universities, oil companies,
consultants and insurance firms. All nationalities around the
North Sea were present, in addition to some experts from outside
the region. All participants were present on the basis of personal
invitation.
The idea of organizing the Workshop stemmed from considera-
tions, such as:
the rapidly increasing material and personel investments and
versatility of type of structures in the basin.during the past
decade;
- the present-day important role Jf the North Sea oil and gas
production in the economy of Western Europe; and
- the increase of potential environmental risks in the region.
Although devastating earthquakes are almost unknown in the
area and seismic hazard is not great, the seismic risk grows with
the growing size and number of structures in the area. The study
of the potential seismic risks, therefore, cannot be neglected
any more. The siting and design of offshore platforms and submarine
pipelines are controlled by the degree of their vulnerability as
well as the seismic hazard. in the region.
The scientific challenge for the Workshop came from the fact
that the North Sea basin area exhibits certain unique and compli-
cating characteristics related to its seismotectonic setting.
Among these are the following:
- the large offshore area with few significant historical events,
seemingly not exhibiting a definite pattern;
the intra-plate character of the region, i.e. absence of plate
boundaries which clearly identify causative structures;
the relatively short time of sensitive instrumental observations;
the large uncertainties associa.ted with the seismic parameters
such as frequency-magnitude relationships and maximum credible
earthquake;
the very slow attenuation of seismic effects which tends to
increase the seismic hazard in general and spread it more
uniformly throughout the area; and
xi
A. R. Ritsema and A. Gurpmar (eds.). Seismicity and SE'ismic Risk in the Offshore North Sea Area, xi-xii.
Copyright © 1983 by D. Reidel Publishing Company.