Far-field ground motion characteristics of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake and implications for tall buildings

Far-field ground motion characteristics of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake and implications for tall buildings | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Far-field ground motion characteristics of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake and implications for tall buildings Liu Yang, Qiang Ma, Quancai Xie, Dongwang Tao, Jiang Wang, Liang Qian This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8623180/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The impact of far-field long-period ground motions (LPGMs) on tall buildings has become increasingly significant. On March 28, 2025, the Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake provided a valuable dataset, with numerous ground motion records collected by the China Earthquake Early Warning Network. Tall buildings in Yunnan Province experienced strong shaking induced by far-field LPGMs. To further investigate the characteristics of far-field LPGMs and the effects on tall buildings, this study conducts a comparative analysis based on extensive ground motion data. Differences in amplitude ratios, durations, and spectral characteristics of the ground motions are examined. The Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method is employed to extract and analyze the various Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) contained in the seismic records. Furthermore, a tall building model was developed using the OpenSees software to analyze the impact of IMF components on long-period Building. The study also evaluated the perception and intensity of shaking experienced by tall buildings during the earthquake. The results indicate that far-field ground motions are characterized by relatively low intensity but prolonged duration and enriched low-frequency components, which pose potential threats to long-period buildings. The IMFs within the long-period range account for a considerable proportion of the total ground motion. Removing the IMF5 component, whose period closely matches the natural vibration period of the structure, can significantly reduce the response of tall buildings by up to 28.76%. Compared with the MMNGU station located 128 km from the epicenter, the YN.N0203 station in Ruili City at a distance of 283 km recorded ground motion exceeding the seismic design spectrum at intensity 8, suggesting that tall buildings may face increased risks under far-field large earthquakes. In particular, under LPGMs, the liquid sloshing-induced instability of rooftop water tanks further exacerbated the structural risk. Tall buildings in western Yunnan, particularly in Ruili City, experienced strong shaking during this earthquake, reaching LPGM Level 3 and Violent shaking. However, the current Chinese Seismic Intensity Scale fails to fully reflect the actual shaking intensity experienced by tall buildings, leading to underestimation. Myanmar earthquake Long-period ground motion Tall buildings Ground motion characteristics Far-field earthquake Structural response Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 19 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 19 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 16 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8623180","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589911515,"identity":"aabab889-220b-4c0b-a2b2-1bdfe1086276","order_by":0,"name":"Liu Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Key Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liu","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":589911516,"identity":"05407c36-4fc1-47f4-a903-5c5b20c80d44","order_by":1,"name":"Qiang 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On March 28, 2025, the Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake provided a valuable dataset, with numerous ground motion records collected by the China Earthquake Early Warning Network. Tall buildings in Yunnan Province experienced strong shaking induced by far-field LPGMs. To further investigate the characteristics of far-field LPGMs and the effects on tall buildings, this study conducts a comparative analysis based on extensive ground motion data. Differences in amplitude ratios, durations, and spectral characteristics of the ground motions are examined. The Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method is employed to extract and analyze the various Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) contained in the seismic records. Furthermore, a tall building model was developed using the OpenSees software to analyze the impact of IMF components on long-period Building. The study also evaluated the perception and intensity of shaking experienced by tall buildings during the earthquake. The results indicate that far-field ground motions are characterized by relatively low intensity but prolonged duration and enriched low-frequency components, which pose potential threats to long-period buildings. The IMFs within the long-period range account for a considerable proportion of the total ground motion. Removing the IMF5 component, whose period closely matches the natural vibration period of the structure, can significantly reduce the response of tall buildings by up to 28.76%. Compared with the MMNGU station located 128 km from the epicenter, the YN.N0203 station in Ruili City at a distance of 283 km recorded ground motion exceeding the seismic design spectrum at intensity 8, suggesting that tall buildings may face increased risks under far-field large earthquakes. In particular, under LPGMs, the liquid sloshing-induced instability of rooftop water tanks further exacerbated the structural risk. Tall buildings in western Yunnan, particularly in Ruili City, experienced strong shaking during this earthquake, reaching LPGM Level 3 and Violent shaking. However, the current Chinese Seismic Intensity Scale fails to fully reflect the actual shaking intensity experienced by tall buildings, leading to underestimation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Far-field ground motion characteristics of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Myanmar earthquake and implications for tall buildings","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-16 23:37:12","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8623180/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"59814008587810390027479962085005237546","date":"2026-03-18T13:10:22+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T00:52:22+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"125860409973993097649226734449466822513","date":"2026-02-12T00:16:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-11T14:39:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-19T09:27:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-01-19T05:30:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Seismology","date":"2026-01-17T03:27:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-seismology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jose","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Seismology](http://link.springer.com/journal/10950)","snPcode":"10950","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10950/3","title":"Journal of Seismology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e9d8f698-6edb-423c-b7f8-2a72eed0fd9d","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-16T23:37:12+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-16 23:37:12","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8623180","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8623180","identity":"rs-8623180","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}