Dr. Motazedian introduced a successful earthquake modelling technique EXSIM (EXtended Finite Fault SIMulation) based on an innovative and original concept of the dynamic corner frequency of earthquakes (Motazedian and Atkinson, 2005). EXSIM is an internationally recognized and robust earthquake modelling method, which has been requested and used by seismologists, graduate students, and engineers from at least 28 countries in the worldwide community of seismologists.

His technique has been used since 2005 and has been updated by him, his former Ph.D. student (Crane and Motazedian, 2014, attached) and many other seismologists.  Download EXSIM_Beta After downloading please send an email to Dr. Dariush Motazedian because he would like to keep track of EXSIM users for future correspondence, in case of any upgrade version. If any third party is interested in EXSIM, please forward them to our websites. We appreciate your cooperation on this matter.

Below are some of the major EXSIM applications.

National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) applications: EXSIM has been used to develop 1,620 strong motion earthquake recordings for the NBCC (Assatourians and Atkinson, 2010; Atkinson, 2009). The recordings were simulated in 2009; however, they have been recommended for the new 2015 version of the NBCC.

Southern California Earthquake Center applications: The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), which is internationally regarded as the foremost research centre in the field of seismology evaluated the performance of five well-known and original earthquake modelling techniques. In 2011, EXSIM was one of the techniques that was evaluated (Baker et al., 2014; Burks and Baker, 2014). In the SCEC validations of EXSIM, three sets of earthquakes from California, Japan, and Eastern North America were simulated using magnitudes, fault geometry, and reference site conditions as specified by SCEC (Goulet et al., 2015). SCEC concluded that “EXSIM works well at reproducing earthquake recordings in a variety of settings, over a broad range of magnitudes, distances, and periods.” (Atkinson and Assatourians, 2015).

Nuclear Power Plant applications: EXSIM has been used to investigate and assess earthquake hazards for the design of different types of structures used in nuclear power plants (Rastogi and Chhatre, 2014; Singh et al., 2011).

Web repository of synthetic waveforms (SYNTHESIS): This repository archives and distributes synthetic waveforms computed by physic-based models (D’Amico et al., 2016). To date, SYNTHESIS includes more than 4,500 simulated accelerograms computed by different simulation techniques, including EXSIM, deterministic-stochastic, purely deterministic, and broadband approaches.

Other Applications: EXSIM has been used and cited by seismologists from many countries (due to a lack of space just one citation per country is mentioned): Australia (McPherson and Allen, 2006), China (Shen et al., 2014), Costa Rica (Fernández, 2009), Ethiopia (Yoseph and Ramana, 2008), Greece (Kkallas et al., 2015), Iceland (Ólafsson and Sigbjörnsson, 2013), India (Harbindu and Sharma, 2012), Iran (Zafarani et al., 2015), Italy (Smerzini et al., 2012), Japan (Ghofrani et al., 2013), Kyrgyzstan (Picozzi et al., 2013), Malta (Farrugia et al., 2016 ), Mexico (Rodríguez-Pérez et al., 2012), Nepal (Shen et al., 2017), New Zealand (Holden et al., 2013), Portugal (Carvalho et al., 2009), Romania (Pavel et al., 2016), Taiwan (Chen et al., 2017), Turkey (Akinci et al., 2013), Spain (Scarfi et al., 2016), and Switzerland (Edwards and Fäh, 2013). Furthermore, EXSIM has been also requested by many engineers and seismologists from Algeria, Colombia, Finland, France, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Classification of the seismic characteristics of soils has become an important issue for major Canadian cities, including the city of Ottawa, following the National Building Code of Canada. Carleton University and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) have applied different geophysical methods to carry out the site classification measurements within the city of Ottawa. Different methods were used extensively to evaluate the shear wave velocity of soils and rock in the city of Ottawa, Canada, from which the travel-time weighted average shear wave velocity (Vs) from surface to 30 m depth (Vs30) and the fundamental frequency (F0) were computed

Dr. Motazedian has been involved in seismic microzonation studies for major cities in Canada as a part of an NSERC-funded Canadian Seismic Research Network (CSRN) grant. His research team at Carleton University in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) provided the first seismic microzonation map for Ottawa, which is available to the public in an interactive Google map.

Their research results have been influential in guiding improvements to the site amplification methods used in the 2010 and 2015 versions of the NBCC. Their results and activities have frequently been presented to the City of Ottawa in discussions on emergency preparedness.

Link to microzonation maps

• Vs30map and borehole info
  • On interactive Google map click here.
  • High resolution in PDF(download here 240MB)
  • High resolution in ArcGIS ArcReader(download here 216 MB);
  • Download from GSC website at ftp://ftp.nrcan.gc.ca/ess/publications/geopub/of_7067.pdf;
• p and borehole info
  • On interactive Google map (click here)
• Surficial Geology map and borehole info
  • On interactive Google map (click here)
• Drift thickness map and borehole info
  • On interactive Google map(click here)

Instructions for Installation of ArcReader and Opening of Interactive Site Class Map: 1) Copy the folder containing all the files directly to your computer. 2) Open the ArcReader Installation folder and double click on the setup.exe icon to begin the ArcReader installation on your computer. 3) When installation is complete, double click on the .PMF file to view and interact with the Ottawa Site Class map. 4) NB – In order for the street map layer to be visible, you must be connected to the internet.

Benefits to Canada/Ottawa

The research program has direct impacts on the mitigation against natural hazards and thus quality of life of Ottawa citizens. The general benefits of seismic microzonation are a better understanding of the potential for and spatial distribution of seismic hazards, and a rational basis for planning and policy making regarding mitigation of those effects. The microzonation maps generated during the course of this research program will be an essential tool for making earthquake emergency plans and for urban planning. In short, the maps will give the authorities relevant and concrete information on where to concentrate mitigation efforts. For example, a seismic hazard map identifying the relative potential for ground motion during an earthquake in different areas can be used to help predict earthquake effects on facilities, such as schools and lifelines, to allow ranking of priority areas or structures in terms of seismic vulnerability and thereby provide a rational basis for distribution of funds for upgrading, retrofitting and other remediation efforts.

Organizations which will benefit from having access to microzonation information include private industry, financial and insurance agencies, emergency services, community planners and groups governing funding and operation of utilities (e.g., water, sewer, gas, telephone, electricity), transportation networks (e.g., roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, ports, airports and mass transit systems), high occupancy structures (e.g., schools, high rise buildings), hazardous goods transportation and storage (e.g., toxic waste repositories and nuclear power stations).

The general benefits of seismic microzonation are a better understanding of the potential for and spatial distribution of seismic hazards. In addition, seismic microzonation information can be incorporated into building codes to improve seismic design of new structures. Assuming that a single building is built to better specifications as a result of this research and does not collapse in an earthquake, the money saved can easily reach a few millions of dollars, especially if injuries to people are avoided.

Crustal Velocity Models for Northeast North America

Dr. Motazedian’s research team at Carleton University in collaboration with international researchers from Spain and China has provided the first generation of comprehensive crustal seismic velocity models for Northern Canada and Northeastern North America (Motazedian et al., 2013) and some areas of southern Ontario (in collaboration with Professor Corchete, Department of Applied Physics, University of Almeria, Spain) (Ma et. al., 2013). Such models have a wide range of uses: from improving the accuracy of absolute earthquake locations to regional exploration for subsurface hydrocarbon (oil and gas) reservoirs (Motazedian and Ma, 2014; Motazedian et al., 2013; Ma et al., 2013; Ma and Motazedian, 2012).

Development of a Preliminary Seismic Risk Screening Tool

In 2016, Dr. Motazedian was approached to collaborate with the National Research Council Canada (NRC) to develop a seismic screening manual, called the “Manual for Screening of Buildings for Seismic Investigation.” The purpose for this manual is to create a rapid and inexpensive seismic screening procedure to rank existing Canadian buildings since the NBCC does not apply retroactively to older buildings.

The last NRC screening guideline (1993) was based on the first edition of FEMA 154 (1988) for use in the US. Since 1993, both the NBCC and FEMA 154 have had major revisions; therefore, the guidelines for rapid seismic screening and seismic evaluation of existing buildings needed to be updated and made compatible with NBCC 2015.

Under the agreement between NRC and Carleton University, Dr. Motazedian oversaw the investigation of the current state-of-practice and the development of an evidence-based methodology to define the applicable threshold values for Canadian seismicity for existing buildings.

POLARIS (Portable Observatories for Lithospheric Analysis and Research Investigating Seismicity)

Carleton University (CU), University of Western Ontario (UWO), University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) started the POLARIS Project in 2001 with the establishment of a Consortium of scientists of Canadian universities. Dr. Atkinson (with 10 others) was the primary applicant of POLARIS from 2001 to 2009.

POLARIS (2001-2014) was a major university/government/industry geophysical consortium focused on elucidating the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s interior and investigating earthquake hazards. POLARIS provided unparalleled, collaborated research opportunities across Canada and other countries (e.g. Austria, Morocco, UK, and the US).

The POLARIS Consortium deployed arrays of geological observatories across Canada for research in geophysics. The POLARIS funding was initially from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), for equipment purchase, and from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grants and equipment users through User Fee procedures established by POLARIS Consortium and administered by Carleton University. Carleton University was the lead institution for the POLARIS Consortium and equipment at the observatories.

Dr. Dariush Motazedian became the primary applicant (with 10 others) of the successful POLARIS proposal in 2009. POLARIS ended in 2014 and the equipment was distributed among the participating universities. Carleton University, in collaboration with the GSC, reinstalled an array of broadband seismic stations in the Ottawa Valley using POLARIS equipment.  

All Dr. Motazedian's undergraduate, two M.Sc., and three Ph.D. students, and two PDFs at Carleton University, in addition to many undergraduate and graduate students at seven other participating universities across Canada, benefitted from data gathered by the POLARIS equipment. Many journal papers and presentations by POLARIS members and their students were based on data gathered by POLARIS equipment.

Selected Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Motazedian D., Torabi H., Hunter J.A., Crow H.L., Pyne M., 2020, Seismic Site Period Studies for Nonlinear Soil in the City of Ottawa, Canada, Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 136, September 2020, 106205, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2020.106205
• Griffiths M.; Pugin A., Motazedian D, 2020, Estimating local slope in the time-frequency domain: velocity-independent seismic imaging in the near-surface, Geophysics, Volume 85 Issue 5, September 2020, https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2019-0753.1
• Grasby, S E; Ansari, S M; Bryant, R; Calahorrano-Di Patre, A; Chen, Z; Craven, J A; Dettmer, J; Gilbert, H; Hanneson, C; Harris, M; Hormozzade, F; Liu, J; Montezadian, D; Muhammad, M; Russell, J K; Salvage, R O; Savard, G; Su, H; Tschirhart, V; Unsworth, M J; Vigouroux-Caillibot, N; Williams-Jones, G; Williamson, A R; 202, The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt geothermal energy project - Mount Meager 2019 field program, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8732, 145 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/326565
• Esmaeilzadeh A., Motazedian, D., Hunter J. (2019).  3-D nonlinear ground motion simulation using a physics-based method for the Kinburn basin, Bulletin of the Seismological society of America, doi: 10.1785/0120180201
• Esmaeilzadeh A., Motazedian, D. (2019). Sensitivity analysis for finite difference seismic basin modeling: a case study for Kinburn basin, Ottawa, Canada, Bulletin of the Seismological society of America, doi: 10.1785/0120190029
• Dariush Motazedian, Shutian Ma, and Maurice Lamontagne (2018). Further studies on the 1988 Saguenay, Quebec, earthquake sequence, Can. J. Earth Sci. 00: 1–14 (0000) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2017-0231
• Fathi-Fazl R. , Jacques E, , Cai, Kadhom B., Saassouh B., and Motazedian D (2018)Development of a Preliminary Seismic Risk Screening Tool for Existing Building in Canada, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, in, 45(9): 717-727.
• Dariush Motazedian, Shutian Ma, and Maurice Lamontagne (2018). Further studies on the 1988 Saguenay, Quebec, earthquake sequence,  J. Earth Sci. 00: 1–14 (0000) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2017-0231.
• Dariush Motazedian and Shutian Ma (2018). Source Parameter Studies on the 8 January 2017 Mw 6.1 Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, Earthquake, Seismological Research Letters (2018) 89 (3): 1030-1039. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1785/0220170260;
• Ma, S. and D. Motazedian (2017). Focal depth distribution of the 1982 Miramichi earthquake sequence determined by modelling depth phases, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2017, 54(4): 359-369, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2016-0111; paper version published April 2017
• Ma S, and Motazedian D. (2018). Further studies on the moment tensor and source rupture process of the 23 June 2014 Rat Islands, Alaska, MW 7.9 earthquake, being revised for: Can. J. Earth Sci.
•  Motazedian, D., Y. Zhang, S. Ma and Y. Chen (2016). Further studies on the focal mechanism and source rupture process of the 2012 Haida Gwaii, Canada, 7.8 moment magnitude earthquake, Can. J. Earth Sci. 53: 1–11
• Bent, A. L., M Lamontagne, V. Peci, S. Halchuk, G. R. Brooks, D. Motazedian, J. A. Hunter, J. Adams, C. Woodgold, J. Drysdale, S. Hayek and W. N. Edwards (2015).   The 17 May 2013 M 4.6 Ladysmith, Quebec, Earthquake, Seismological Research Letters, v. 86, no. 2, doi:10.1785/0229149138.
• Motazedian D. and Ma S. (2014) A review study of the source parameters of the 23 August 2011 Virginia MW 5.7 earthquake, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, in press.
• Motazedian D. and Ma S. (2014) Crustal Shear-Wave Velocity Models Retrieved from Rayleigh Wave Dispersion Data in Northern Canada, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, August 2014, v. 104, p. 1976-1988, doi:10.1785/0120130265
• Crane S. and Motazedian D. (2014), Low-frequency scaling applied to stochastic finite-fault modeling, Journal of Seismology, doi: 10.1007/s10950-013-9405-0
• Motazedian D. , Ma S. and  Crane S.  (2013) Crustal shear-wave velocity models retrieved from Rayleigh wave dispersion data in northeastern North America, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 103, No. 4, pp. 2266–2276, August 2013, doi: 10.1785/0120120187.
• Atkinson G. and Motazedian D. (2013) Ground Motion Amplitudes for Earthquakes in Puerto Rico. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 1846–1859, June 2013, doi: 10.1785/0120120130
• Ma, S., Motazedianm D. and Corchete, V. (2013).Shear wave velocity models retrieved using Rg wave dispersion data in shallow crust in some regions of southern Ontario, Canada, Journal of Seismology: Volume 17, Issue 2 , Page 683-705, DOI: 10.1007/s10950-012-9346-z
• Motazedian, D., J.A. Hunter, S. Sivathayalan, A. Pugin, S. Pullan, H.  Crow, and K. Khaheshi Banab, (2012) Railway train induced ground vibrations in a low VS soil layer overlying a high VS bedrock in eastern Canada. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 36, pages 1-11, doi:10.1016/j.soildyn.2011.02.008
• Ma, S. and D. Motazedian (2012). Studies on the June 23 2010 north Ottawa MW 5.2 earthquake and vicinity seismicity, Journal of Seismology: Volume 16, Issue 3 (2012), Page 513-534, DOI: 10.1007/s10950-012-9294-7
• Khaheshi Banab K., Kolaj M. , Motazedian D., Sivathayalan S.,  Hunter J.A., Crow H.L.,  Pugin A. J-M., Brooks G. R. and Pyne M. (2012) Seismic site response analysis for Ottawa, Canada: A comprehensive study using measurements and numerical simulations. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 102, No. 5, pp. 1976–1993, October 2012, doi: 10.1785/0120110248
• Ma, S. and D. Motazedian, (2012) Determination of Small Shallow Earthquakes in Eastern Canada from Maximum Power Rg/Sg Spectral Ratio", Journal of Seismology, Volume 16, Number 2 (2012), 107-129, DOI: 10.1007/s10950-011-9252-9
• Motazedian, D., Khaheshi Banab K., Hunter J.A., Sivathayalan S., Crow, H., and Brooks, G.   (2011) Comparison of Site Periods Derived from Different Evaluation Methods, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doi: 10.1785/0120100344 [NSERC and GSC]
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, D. Motazedian, A.J.-M. Pugin (2011). “In situ low-strain damping measurements using a monofrequency spectral ratio approach”, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering Journal, Volume 31, Issue 12, December 2011, Pages 1669–1677, doi:10.1016/j.soildyn.2011.07.002. [NSERC and GSC].
• Motazedian, D., J.A. Hunter, A. Pugin, K. Khaheshi Banab, H.L. Crow (2011). “Development of a Vs30 (NEHRP) Map for the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada”, Canadian Geotechnical Engineering Journal. doi:10.1139/T10-081. [NSERC and GSC].
• Goda, K., G.M. Atkinson, J.A. Hunter, H.L. Crow, D. Motazedian (2011). “Probabilistic Liquefaction Hazard Analysis for Canadian Cities”, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
• Khaheshi Banab, K. and D. Motazedian (2010). “Efficiency of the multi-channel analysis of surface wave method for shallow and semi-deep loose soil layers overlaying a very high shear wave velocity bedrock”, International Journal of Geophysics, Volume 2010, Article ID 403016, doi:10.1155/2010/403016. [NSERC].
• Moghaddam, H., N. Fanaie, D. Motazedian (2010). “Estimation of Stress Drop for some Large Shallow Earthquakes Using Stochastic Point Source and Finite Fault Modeling”, Scientia Iranica Journal, 17(3), pp. 217-235.
• Atkinson, G.M., D.M. Boore, K. Assatourians, K. Campbell, D. Motazedian (2009). A guide to differences between stochastic point-source and stochastic finite-fault simulations, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 99, pp. 3192-3201. [NSERC]
• Motazedian, D. and J.A. Hunter (2008). “Development of a NEHRP Map for the Orleans Suburb of Ottawa, Ontario”, Canadian Geotechnical Engineering Journal, 45, pp. 1180-1188. doi:10.1139/T08-051.[NSERC].
• Macias, M., G.M. Atkinson, D. Motazedian (2008). “Ground motion attenuation, source and site effects for the September 26, 2003, M 8.1 Tokachi-Oki earthquake sequence”, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 98(4), pp. 1947-1963; DOI: 10.1785/0120070130. [NSERC]
• Motazedian, D. (2006). “Region-Specific Key Seismic Parameters for Earthquakes in Northern Iran”, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 96(4A), pp. 1383-1395.
• Motazedian, D. and A. Moinfar (2006). “Hybrid Stochastic Finite Fault Modelling of 2003, M6.5, Bam Earthquake”, Journal of Seismology, 10, pp. 91-103.
• Motazedian, D. and G.M. Atkinson (2005). “Stochastic Finite-Fault Modelling Based on a Dynamic Corner Frequency”, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 95, pp. 995-1010. [NSERC]. Download EXSIM_Beta (May, 26, 2009). After downloading please send us an email because we would like to keep track of EXSIM users for future correspondence, in case of any upgrade version. If any third party is interested in EXSIM, please forward him/her to our websites. We appreciate your cooperation on this matter.
• Motazedian, D. and G.M. Atkinson (2005). “Earthquake Magnitude Measurements for Puerto Rico”, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 95, pp. 725-730.
• Motazedian, D. and G.M. Atkinson (2005). “Ground motion relations for Puerto Rico”, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 385, pp. 61-80.

Refereed proceedings papers, book chapters and open files

• Esmaeilzadeh, A., Motazedian, D (2019), Simulation for postglacial sediments in Kinburn Basin, 12^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, June 2019.
• Reza Fathi-Fazl, Zhen Cai, Dariush Motazedian, Leonardo Cortés-Puentes (2019), Preliminary Seismic Risk Screening Tool for Existing Buildings in Canada: An Overview, 12^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, June 2019.
• Stephen Crane, Claire Perry, Dariush Motazedian, John Adams (2019), Synthetic ground motions at Quebec City from Charlevoix earthquakes using empirical Green's functions, 12^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, June 2019.
• Motazedian D., Hunter J., Torabi H., Crane S. Hayek S. and Crow H. (2015) Investigation of Soil Amplification Factors for the Ottawa Area. Part I – Fa. The 11^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Victoria, July
• Crane S., Motazedian D., and Hunter J., (2015), 2D Modelling of Seismic wave propagation through a soft soil basin: Kinburn, Canada. The 11^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Victoria
• Hayek S.  Hunter J., Motazedian D., Audet P. and Crane S. (2015), Studies of Weak Ground Motion Records over Soft Sediments Filled Basins in Ottawa ON The 11^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Victoria, July, 2015
• Motazedian, D., J.A. Hunter, M. Belvaux, S. Sivathayalan, A. Pugin, L. Chouinard, K. Khaheshi Banab, H.L. Crow, M. Tremblay, D. Perret, and Ph. Rosset (2010). “Seismic Microzonation of Montreal and Ottawa, Canada”, In proceedings of the 10th Canadian & 9th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Toronto, ON, July 2010. [NSERC]
• Hunter, J.A., D. Motazedian, H.L. Crow, G.R. Brooks, R.D. Miller, A.J-M. Pugin, S.E. Pullan, J. Xia (2010). “Near Surface Shear Wave Velocity Measurements for Soft Soil-Earthquake Hazard Assessment: Some Canadian Mapping Examples” in the book Recent Advances in Near Surface Geophysics, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Tulsa, Oklahoma. [GSC and NSERC]
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, and D. Motazedian (2010). “Seismic Q (Attenuation) Measurements in Leda Clay within the Ottawa Area”, In proceedings of the Advances in Earth Sciences Research Conference (AESRC), Ottawa, ON, March 2010.
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, A.J-M. Pugin, and D. Motazedian (2010). “Advances in Seismic Hazard Assessment within the Ottawa Area Leda Clays”, In proceedings of the Canadian Geophysical Union Conference, Ottawa, ON, May 2010.
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, A.J.-M. Pugin, and D. Motazedian (2010). “In situ damping measurements in Leda Clay within the Ottawa, ON area”, In proceedings of the 63rd Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Calgary, AB, September 2010.
• Hunter, J.A., H.L. Crow, A.J.-M. Pugin, and D. Motazedian, K. Kaheshi Banab, (2010). “Some Applications of Near Surface Geophysics to Earthquake Geohazards Investigations: Examples from Eastern Ontario, Canada”, In proceedings of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), Denver, CO, October 2010.
• Hunter J.A., H. Crow, G.R. Brooks, A. Pugin, S.E. Pullan, D. Motazedian, and K. Kaheshi Banab (2010). “Earthquake Hazard Maps of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada using Near-Surface Geophysical and Geological Methods”, In proceedings of the The Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP), Keystone, CO, April 2010.
• Hunter, J.A., H.L. Crow, G. Brooks, D. Motazedian, et al. (2010).“Seismic site classification and site period mapping in the Ottawa area using geophysical methods”, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File Report 6273.
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, D. Motazedian, A. Pugin, G.R. Brooks, and M. Pyne (2009). “Development of Vs30 and Fundamental Site Period Maps for Seismic Hazard Estimation in Ottawa, ON”, In proceedings of the Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Halifax, NS, September 2009.
• Crow, H.L., J.A. Hunter, A.J.-M. Pugin, and D. Motazedian, K. Khaheshi Banab (2009). “Application of Near-Surface Geophysical Techniques for Earthquake Microzonation Mapping in the Ottawa, Ontario Region”, In proceedings of the American Geophysical Union, Annual General Meeting, Toronto, ON, May 2009.
• Hunter, J.A., H.L. Crow, D. Motazedian, et al. (2009). “City of Ottawa Seismic Site Classification Map from Combined Geological/Geophysical Data”, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File Report 6191.
• Khaheshi Banab K., S. Sivathayalan, and D. Motazedian (2009). “Site response analysis of high contrast shear wave velocity soil profiles using the generalized reflection/transmission method”, Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Halifax, NS, September 2009. [NSERC]
• Hunter, J.A., D. Motazedian, G. Brooks, M. Lamontagne, H.L. Crow, T. Cartwright, A. Pugin, and M. Pyne (2008). “Earthquake Hazard Mapping in the Ottawa Area”, 4th Canadian Conference on Geohazards, Université Laval, Québec, QC, May 2008. [NSERC]
•  Crow, H.L., M. Pyne, J.A. Hunter, D. Motazedian, and A. Pugin (2008). “Shear Wave Measurements for Earthquake Response Evaluation in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, Ontario”, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File Report 5579. [GSC and NSERC]
• Khaheshi Banab, K. and D. Motazedian (2007). “Shear Wave Velocity Profile Determination Based on the Multi-Channel Analysis of Surface Waves Methods for NEHRP Site Classification in the City of Ottawa”, Ninth Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering (9ccee), Ottawa, ON, June 2007. [NSERC]
• Pugin A., J.A., Hunter, D. Motazedian, K. Khaheshi Banab (2007). “An Application of Shear Wave Reflection Landstreamer Technology to Soil Response Evaluation of Earthquake Shaking in an Urban Area, Ottawa, Ontario”, Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP) Conference Bulletin, Denver, CO, April 2007.
• Pugin, A.J.-M., Hunter, J.A., Motazedian, D. and Brooks, G.R., 2007. Shear wave reflection landstreamer technology applied to soil response evaluation of earthquake shaking in an urban area. 13th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, Istanbul, Turkey,  3-5 September 2007, 5 p.
• Crow H.L., J.A. Hunter, A. Pugin, G. Brooks, D. Motazedian, K. Khaheshi Banab (2007). “Shear Wave Measurements for Earthquake Response Evaluation in Orleans, Ontario”, the Canadian Geotechnical Conference, OttawaGeo2007: The Diamond Jubilee Conference, Ottawa, ON, October 2007.
• Hunter, J.A. and D. Motazedian (2006). “Shear Wave Velocity Measurements for Soft Soil Earthquake Response Evaluation in the Eastern Ottawa Region, Ontario, Canada”, SAGEEP Conference Bulletin, Seattle, WA, April 2006. [NSERC]
• Meng J. and D. Motazedian (2006) “Frequency- Dependent Attenuation of Soils in Seismic Simulation”, In the proceedings of the 8th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering,  Paper No. 1749, San Francisco, CA, April 2006