Bengkulu city, located in the western part of Sumatra, is characterized by the prevalence of alluvial deposits. In certain areas, local site effects on soft alluvial sediments such as clay, sand, silt, mud, and gravel can amplify ground movements caused by significant seismic waves. Consequently, a comprehensive site effect study was conducted with closer measurement points to establish a more detailed seismic microzonation. In order to evaluate how the soil reacts to seismic activity, the HVSR method is performed to analyze the ambient soil noise within the study area. Field measurements reveal variations in the predominant frequency (ranging from 0.4 to 16.5 Hz), HVSR amplification (ranging from 0.3 to 12.3), and Kg distribution (ranging from 0.02 to 239.26), respectively. Furthermore, the PGA Kanai method was utilized to estimate soil shear strain (GSS) in the study area, using data from the 2000 Bengkulu-Enggano Earthquake (Mw 7.9) and the 2007 Bengkulu-Mentawai Earthquake (Mw 8.4). The analysis indicated a consistent distribution of Kg values with GSS and PGA values, alongside Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) values, exhibiting correlation coefficients greater than 0.9. This suggests that Bengkulu City faces a moderate to high vulnerability to severe damage from earthquakes. The closer examination of HVSR data at finer measurement points aids in identifying exposure to new hazards and contributes valuable insights for formulating regional planning policies centered on disaster risk reduction and enhancing existing strategies in Bengkulu City.

An earthquake of Mw = 7.0 occurred on October 30, 2020, in the Aegean Sea near Samos Island, which caused severe structural damage in Bayrakl & imath;, Izmir (T & uuml;rkiye), located around 70 km from the epicenter. To investigate the source, path, and site effects, ground motions recorded in Western Anatolia are simulated using the stochastic finite-fault method based on a dynamic corner frequency approach. The input model parameters are calibrated using the recorded motions at selected 10 stations within an epicentral distance of less than 100 km. The soil amplifications are modeled using horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios and generic amplification factors. At most stations, including a few within Izmir Bay, amplitudes and frequency contents are modeled closely. Minor discrepancies within particular frequency bands can be attributed to insufficient representation of the local site effects. Finally, distributions of observed and simulated felt intensities are found to be consistent.

This study discusses the effects of local sites and hazard amplification on the seismic vulnerability assessment of existing masonry buildings. In this context, a rapid seismic evaluation procedure was implemented on an old masonry building stock in the historical center Galata, located in Istanbul, to determine the seismic risk priority of the built heritage. Damage scenarios were generated for all soil classes, different moment magnitudes, and source-to-site distances to obtain more accurate results for the seismic vulnerability assessment of the studied building stock. Consequently, damage distributions estimated under nine different scenarios with/without site effects were compared and illustrated in maps to discuss changes in vulnerability owing to amplification effects. In this study, by re-examining the rapid seismic evaluation procedure by including geo-hazard-based assessment, the importance of site effects on the vulnerability and risk assessment of built heritage was underlined. The proposed framework integrating field data and local site effects is believed to advance the current applications for vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings and provide an improvement in the application of rapid seismic assessment procedures with more reliable results.