Damages caused by the recent earthquakes are concluded as a direct result of local geological conditions affecting the ground motion. The best approach for understanding ground conditions is through direct observation of the seismic ground motion, but such studies are restricted to areas with relatively high seismicity. Because of these restrictions in other methods, such as only at high seismicity area and the availability of an adequate reference site, non-reference site methods have been applied to the site response studies. Microtremor is a very convenient tool to estimate the effect of surface geology on seismic motion without other geological information.
The H/V technique, alias QTS, Quasi-Transfer Spectra, fits very well to this description and it has received great attention from all over the world with its simplicity together with quick information about dynamic characteristics of ground and structures. Although several researchers claimed that the theoretical background of this technique is not clear, there have been many successful experimental studies performed. This method is attractive since it gives the ease of data collection and it can be applied in areas of low or even no seismicity.
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Nakamura, Y. (2009). Basic Structure of QTS (HVSR) and Examples of Applications. In: Mucciarelli, M., Herak, M., Cassidy, J. (eds) Increasing Seismic Safety by Combining Engineering Technologies and Seismological Data. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9196-4_4
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