Simulated Ground Motion Database (SGMD) User Guide

1. PEER-LBNL simulated ground motion database can be accessed at https://sgmd.peer.berkeley.edu/.

2. For a prospective user, the first step is to request access to the database by completing this form and
signing up.
3. Once the database access request is approved, users can access the database by logging in.
4. Once logged in, the next step is to enter the database by clicking the “Enter Database” button in Figure
1. This button also displays the current version of the database.

Figure 1. Entering the database.

5. Once in the database, the first step is to select the region to download ground motions (Figure 2).
Currently, the San Francisco Bay Region (SFBR) is available as a region, and the Los Angeles Region
Area and New Madrid Region are two regions that will be included in the near future.

Figure 2. Region selection.

6. After selecting the region, the next window (Figure 3) allows the user to (i) use the visualization
modules, (ii) search for ground motions across multiple realizations and multiple parameters.

Figure 3. Window for visualization modules and ground motion search.

7. Visualization modules: The visualization modules allow users to view site locations on an interactive
map, and to display and download response spectra, ground motion time series, and Peak Ground
Velocity (PGV) distributions for all realizations. For guiding any ground motion search, it is strongly
recommended to use these visualization modules. Example usage of visualization modules is presented
in Figures 4-8 and explained below.
a) In Figure 4, selecting Realization 2 in the Waveforms dropdown menu and clicking the Submit
button with the arrow opens the map on the right, where users can view the locations and
geographical coordinates of all sites on a map, and display the ground acceleration, velocity, and
displacement time series in the Fault Parallel, Fault Normal and Vertical directions in the selected
realization (Realization 2 in this case; the positive ground motion directions are indicated on the
bottom left image in Figure 3). It is noted that each visualization module submission is opened in
a new tab, and the original window in Figure 3 remains open, allowing the user to return to this
window and explore other visualization modules and realizations as needed.
b) In Figure 5, Selecting Realization 5 in the PGV dropdown menu and clicking the Submit button
with the arrow opens the map on the right, where users can view (and download) the spatial
distribution of RotD50 PGV in that realization, the fault trace and rupture hypocenter, along with
the median RotD50 PGV map from all 50 realizations. Such plots (i) clearly illustrate the intra-
event variability of ground motion intensity with dependency on the rupture characteristics and site
location, (ii) can be used to select and prioritize the realizations to download ground motions from.
c) In Figure 6, clicking the shown Submit button opens the map on the right, where users can view the
locations and geographical coordinates of all sites on a map, and display and download the 5%
damped acceleration response in the Fault Parallel, Fault Normal and Vertical directions in all
realizations.

Figure 4. Example usage of the Waveforms visualization module.

Figure 5. Example usage of the PGV visualization module.

 Figure 6. Example usage of the Response Spectra visualization module.

8. Ground motion search: Several points to consider when using the Search are listed below:
a) Users can select any number of realizations of interest; at least one realization must be selected.
Each realization represents a unique earthquake, and it is recommended that users make
themselves familiar with all the 50 realizations, using the Visualization Modules and the
Simulations_Flatfile.xlsx of the Documentation.
b) All search parameters are initially deactivated. Users can activate the parameters of interest
using the Switch buttons (Figures 7-10). At least one parameter must be activated for the search,
and users can utilize as many parameters as needed. For example:
• Figure 7 shows a search for all ground motions in Realizations 1 and 2, and Realizations
with patches 4 and 5 within a region defined by latitude boundaries of 37.68˚ and 37.72˚
and longitude boundaries of -122.30˚ and -121.90˚.
• Figure 8 shows a search for all ground motions in the same region, but only those with Vs30
between 300 m/s and 500 m/s.
• Figure 9 shows a search for all ground motions in the same region but only those with Vs30
between 300 m/s and 500 m/s, and Rjb between 10 km and 20 km.
• Figure 10 shows a search for all ground motions with PGV between 0.8 m/s and 1.0 m/s in
Realizations 1-10, and Realizations with Patches 1-10.
c) If a user wants to search for a specific location, such as the site of a building or a bridge, they
should set the maximum latitude equal to the minimum latitude and the maximum longitude
equal to the minimum longitude. This search finds ground motions at the locations closest to
the specified coordinates. The distances between the specified location and the locations of the
identified motions are provided in a summary file titled “Distance Results.”
d) Brief definitions of search parameters are as follows:
• Latitude and longitude: Geographical coordinates.
• Vs30: The time averaged shear wave velocity to 30 m depth.
• Rjb: Joyner-Boore distance, shortest horizontal distance from the site to the vertical
projection of the rupture, Rrup: Closest distance from the site to the fault rupture, Rx:
Horizontal distance from the surface projection of the top edge of the fault rupture to the
site.
  PGA, PGV, PGD: RotD50 Peak ground acceleration, velocity and displacement. The
RotD50 metric represents the median from the two horizontal components rotated across
180 orientations, ranging from 0˚ to 179˚.
9. Clicking “Search” in Figures 7-10 starts the search process. Once all ground motions that meet the
search criteria are found, they are available for download by the user (Figure 11). This pre-download
overview window provides the total number of sites and the total file size to be downloaded. Currently,
users can download a maximum of 500 sites per two-week period; this information and the number of
sites that are already downloaded during that period are also provided. If the user wishes to proceed
with the download, they should click the Download File button, which downloads the ground motions
to the local computer of the user. For each site that meets the search criteria, the files to download
include nine files: acceleration, velocity and displacement time histories in the Fault Normal, Fault
Parallel and Vertical directions. The naming convention for these files is explained in Figure 12.
Similar to the Visualization Modules, the pre-download overview window in Figure 11 opens in a new
tab, while the original Search window remains open, allowing the user to return to their search easily
and update their search parameters as needed and as many times as desired.
10. The documentation includes this User Guide, several flatfiles, a glossary of the technical terms used in
the simulations, flatfiles and the dataset, and publications that provide technical background on the
physics-based simulations that were performed to generate the ground motions. Two types of metadata
are available for the user, both provided in flatfiles. The first type is metadata for the rupture realizations
and the second type is metadata for the ground motion histories. The metadata for the realizations,
provided in Simulations_Flatfile.xlsx, includes three sets of information:
• A general description of the simulated earthquake including the region name, corresponding
region code, and the realization number.
• Fault rupture parameters, including fault geometry characterized by the fault name; rupture
geometry defined by fault length and width, depth to top of rupture, dip, strike, and rake;
earthquake magnitude and hypocenter location; the rupture model utilized in the regional
simulations (e.g., the Graves-Pitarka kinematic rupture model) and slip characteristics. A visual
graphic that displays the slip, slip-rate and rise time across the fault rupture is also provided to
assist in interpretation.
• Simulation model parameters, which include maximum frequency resolved, minimum shear
wave velocity included in the model (Vsmin), surface grid spacing that defines the distance
between computational nodes in the simulation model, output spacing that provides distance
between the down-sampled grid points where ground motion data is available, and the geologic
velocity model utilized in the simulation (e.g., the USGS velocity model for SFBA).
For each region, the metadata for the ground motions of all realizations are provided in a separate
flatfile. The metadata includes two sets of information; the first set includes the name, latitude and
longitude coordinates of the grid point, the vertical elevation of the grid point from sea level, the 2D
cartesian coordinates of the grid point in the computational model domain (with X and Y axes in the
fault normal and parallel directions respectively), the Vs30, and the depth at which the shear-wave
velocity reaches 1.0 km/s and 2.5 km/s (Z1.0 and Z2.5) at the location of the grid point. The second set
consists of the distance parameters (Rjb, Rrup and Rx) and peak ground motion values (RotD50, PGA,
PGV, and PGD). The flatfile for the SFBA region is titled Hayward_M7_GMs_Flatfile.xlsx.
11. The Forum is a community forum, where users can ask questions, provide suggestions, report issues,
and interact with each other and the development team (Figure 13). Users are encouraged to participate
in this SGMD community forum.
Figure 7. Search for all ground motions in Realizations 1 and 2, and Realizations with patches 4 and 5
inside a region defined by latitude boundaries of 37.68˚and 37.72˚, and longitude coordinates of -122.30˚
and -121.90˚. Please note that the realization numbers should be entered without spaces, and with only
commas as shown above.
Figure 8. Search for all ground motions in Realizations 1 and 2, and Realizations with patches 4 and 5 with
Vs30 between 300 m/s and 500 m/s inside a region defined by latitude boundaries of 37.68˚ and 37.72˚, and
longitude boundaries of -122.30˚ and -121.90˚.
Figure 9. Search for all ground motions in Realizations 1 and 2, and Realizations with patches 4 and 5 with
Vs30 between 300 m/s and 500 m/s and Rjb between 10 km and 20 km inside a region defined by latitude
boundaries of 37.68˚ and 37.72˚, and longitude boundaries of -122.30˚ and -121.90˚.
Figure 10. Search for all ground motions with PGV between 0.8 m/s and 1.0 m/s in 20n Realizations.
 Figure 11. Pre-download overview window.

Realization # GM Direction

SFBA_Real1_37_12_01_FP.AT2
Region Grid location Kinematics

GM Direction Time History

FP: Fault Parallel AT2: Acceleration
FN: Fault Normal VT2: Velocity
UP: Vertical DT2: Displacement

Grid location
First index: Parallel to the fault
Second index: Normal to the fault
Third index: Along the depth (1: Surface)

Figure 12. File naming convention.

Figure 13. SGMD community forum.