Mexican Strong Motion Database

Strong motion instrumentation in Mexico goes back to 1960 when the first accelerographs were installed to study the effects of large earthquakes on soils and structures. In the past 35 years, a network of close to 450 strong motion recording stations has been operated which produced over 7800 three-component accelerograms from 1140 earthquakes with magnitudes between 1.7 and 8.1. Most of this information has only partially been published and released by some research institutions and therefore, except by a reduced group of people, has been generally inaccessible to researchers, engineers and students.

With the main objective to organize and disseminate world wide this valuable information about strong motion instruments and records available in Mexico, in 1992 several of the main research institutions which operate accelerograph networks and process data, initiated a coordinated effort to create the Mexican Strong Motion Database. A computer system was developed to integrate and compile all information available regarding networks, stations, instruments, institutions, accelerograms and earthquakes gathered in the past 35 years in Mexico. This information has been processed in a homogeneous and standardized database system.

Along the years the network has been growing with many different types of accelerographs and recording media, thus producing data with a variety of formats which have made information interchange and processing difficult. Therefore to process and disseminate this huge amount of strong motion data efficiently, a new single acceleration data format has been designed (Mexican Standard Acceleration File) which most of the institutions in Mexico have adopted as a standard.

Most of the information processed by the database has already been published through different data catalogs and are available on CD's and will be soon distributed through the World Wide Web on Internet.

Database Steering Committee

	Sociedad Mexicana de Ingeniería Sísmica, A.C.
	Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM
	Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Gerencia de Ingeniería Experimental y Control
	Fundación ICA
	Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada
	Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico, Fundación Javier Barros Sierra
	Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres, Secretaría de Gobernación

Institutions which contributed with strong motion data

• Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico, Fundación Javier Barros Sierra
• Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada
• Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres, Secretaría de Gobernación
• Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Gerencia de Ingeniería Experimental y Control
• Fundación ICA
• Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM
• Instituto de Investigación para la Ingeniería A.C.

Red Interuniversitaria de Instrumentación Sísmica, RIIS, integrated by:

• Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Azcapotzalco
• Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero
• Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla
• Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
• Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
• Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Chiapas
• Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente
• Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
• University of Nevada at Reno, Mackay School of Mines

Publications

Further information about the database could be requested with:

Roberto Quaas:
tel. (52-5) 606-9486, fax. (52-5) 606-1608
e-mail: rqw@pumas.iingen.unam.mx

Leonardo Alcántara:
tel. (52-5) 622-3412, fax. (52-5) 616-1514
or e-mail: isismica@mercalli.iingen.unam.mx