Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) is the maximum absolute velocity experienced by the ground surface during an earthquake, typically expressed in cm/s. It is a key intensity measure that correlates strongly with structural damage in the intermediate-period range and is widely used in seismic hazard assessment and damage prediction.
Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) is the maximum absolute value of ground velocity recorded at a site during an earthquake. Unlike Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), which captures the highest-frequency content of ground shaking, PGV reflects the intermediate-frequency energy of the motion and is obtained by integrating the acceleration time history. It is commonly expressed in cm/s and is used extensively in both seismic hazard analysis and post-earthquake damage assessment.
PGV has emerged as one of the most reliable predictors of structural damage, particularly for structures in the intermediate-period range (roughly 0.5β3 seconds) and for geotechnical phenomena such as liquefaction and lateral spreading. Field observations following major earthquakes β including Northridge (1994), Kobe (1995), and Tohoku (2011) β have shown that PGV correlates better with observed damage than PGA in many cases. For this reason, several modern intensity scales and damage prediction models use PGV directly as their primary input.
Despite its strengths, PGV is more difficult to measure directly than PGA. Ground velocity is typically obtained by numerically integrating accelerometer records, a process that can amplify low-frequency noise and requires careful baseline correction and filtering. Modern instruments increasingly include direct velocity sensors (geophones), but historic records are usually derived from acceleration data and carry associated uncertainties. In code-based design, PGV is used less commonly than PGA, though it appears in performance-based frameworks and in the definition of several ground motion intensity measures such as Housner intensity.