Abstract
The goal of this paper is to construct an empirical response function to estimate the ground motion amplification of steel and reinforced concrete structures. Using the strong motion data recorded at the buildings in California, the amplification of acceleration, velocity, and JMA seismic intensity were analyzed. Buildings are modeled by an equivalent single degree of freedom system and the response is approximated by the acceleration response spectrum. The trend of the amplification was formulated by considering nonlinear effects during the strong shaking. The constructed function is useful to estimate the response at each floor of the building from the ground motion record for the real-time damage evaluation.