A method is proposed to identify within seismic catalogs those earthquakes that are most relevant to the seismic hazard. The approach contrasts with the classical approach to decluster the seismic catalog with the expectation that the remaining main shocks will be the relevant events for the seismic hazard analysis. We apply a time window like in the window declustering approach of Gardner and Knopoff, but the time window is motivated by relevance to engineering. A ground motion criterion replaces the spatial window. An event in the time window is included in the “Maximum Shaking Earthquake Catalog (MSEQ catalog)” if the median ground motion at its epicenter exceeds the predicted median ground motion there from the main shock, using a locally appropriate ground motion prediction equation. Ground motion can be measured by any parameter that is estimated by a ground motion prediction equation. We consider peak acceleration and spectral amplitude (SA) at periods of 0.2, 1.0, and 3.0 s. The longer period parameters systematically remove more small events. The purpose is not to produce a declustered catalog, in which each group of physically related earthquakes is represented by its largest event. Statistical properties of the MSEQ catalog somewhat resemble the corresponding declustered catalog in three tested regions, but the MSEQ catalogs all retain more large-magnitude earthquakes. The MSEQ catalog may better represent the potential hazard in a region, and thus might be considered as an alternative to a declustered catalog in developing the seismicity model for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis.

提出了一种在地震目录中识别与地震危害最相关的地震的方法。该方法与经典方法相反，该方法可以将剩余的主震作为地震危险性分析的相关事件，从而减少了地震目录的分类。我们像在Gardner和Knopoff的窗口分块方法中那样应用时间窗口，但是时间窗口是由与工程的相关性驱动的。地面运动准则取代了空间窗口。如果使用局部合适的地面运动预测方程，如果震中点的中值地面运动超过了主震的预测中值地面运动，则该时间窗口中的事件会包含在“最大震动地震目录（MSEQ目录）”中。可以通过地面运动预测方程式估算的任何参数来测量地面运动。我们考虑了0.2、1.0和3.0 s周期的峰值加速度和频谱幅度（SA）。周期较长的参数会系统地删除更多的小事件。目的不是要产生一个分散的目录，在目录中，与物理相关的每一组地震都以其最大的事件为代表。MSEQ目录的统计特性在三个测试区域中与相应的分块目录有些相似，但是MSEQ目录都保留了更多的大震级地震。MSEQ目录可以更好地表示区域中的潜在危害，因此在开发用于概率地震危害分析的地震活动性模型时，可以将MSEQ目录视为分散目录的替代方案。