An Investigation into the Pulse-Like Characteristics of the Kahramanmaraş Turkey Earthquake for Selected Stations

This study has considered different near-fault strong ground motion records with PGV>30 cm/s from five stations to determine some pulse-like characteristics of the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake in Turkey. The wavelet method was employed to identify and analyze the characteristics inherent in the pulse-like ground motions within the proximity of a fault. The largest velocity pulses from the selected records were extracted using wavelet analysis. The pulse periods were calculated using the peak-point method. The relative cumulative energies of the selected pulse-like records were determined graphically, and the relative pulse energies were computed for the pulse period regions to demonstrate that the records could be considered pulse-like. The pulse indicators were subsequently computed using Baker’s method and, in accordance with his criteria, the selected records were once more validated as records exhibiting pulse-like characteristics. The velocity response spectra of the original records, the extracted pulse signals, and the residual records were calculated. The velocity spectra of the residual records exhibited a stronger agreement with the original record at shorter periods, yet displayed significantly reduced amplitudes compared to the original records for the periods surpassing the pulse periods.