Open Access

ARTICLE

Large Scale Parallel Simulation and Visualization of 3D Seismic Wavefield \\ Using the Earth Simulator

by T. Furumura¹, L. Chen²

1 Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku 113-0032, JAPAN
2 Research Organization for Information Sciences and Technology, 2-2-54, Nakamguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0061, Japan.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2004, 6(2), 153-168. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2004.006.153

Abstract

Recent developments of the Earth Simulator, a high-performance parallel computer, has made it possible to realize realistic 3D simulations of seismic wave propagations on a regional scale including higher frequencies. Paralleling this development, the deployment of dense networks of strong ground motion instruments in Japan (K-NET and KiK-net) has now made it possible to directly visualize regional seismic wave propagation during large earthquakes. Our group has developed an efficient parallel finite difference method (FDM) code for modeling the seismic wavefield and a 3D visualization technique, both suitable for implementation on the Earth Simulator. Large-scale 3D simulations of seismic wave propagation have been conducted using these techniques for recent damaging earthquakes such as the 2000 Tottori-ken Seibu (M_J 7.3) earthquake and the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquakes (M_J 7.8). Comparison of the simulation results with the dense array observations provides insights into the nature of complex seismic wave propagation through the heterogeneous subsurface structure of Japan. The simulations are in good agreement with the observations in terms of the features of the seismic wavefield, indicating that the simulation is already at a suitable level for use in investigating the expected pattern of ground motions for future earthquake scenarios.

---

Keywords

---