Baguio City, a highly populated city in the mountainous portion of the Cordillera, is vulnerable to earthquake hazards due to its proximity to earthquake generators. For this reason, identifying its threats by generating seismic hazard assessments such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the important necessities to be considered in order to mitigate damages and reduce casualties. Further, the effects of topography, aside from the site conditions, play an important role in the amplification of ground motions. In this study, a peak ground acceleration (PGA) is generated with the influence of topographic effects. Data gathered from geophysical surveys were utilized as inputs in generating the site amplification for Baguio City. The amplification values are then incorporated into the composite peak ground acceleration (PGA) generated by simulating each individual fault source surrounding Baguio City, thereby generating the final PGA for Baguio City. Results revealed that 39% of Baguio City may experience a ground acceleration value of 0.71 g to 0.8 g. Specific places, such as the Pinsao Proper area, may experience higher acceleration.
Grutas et al. (2026) studied this question.