A new strong-motion array named SMART-2 has been deployed in the northern part of the Longitudinal Valley in Hualien, Taiwan. It consists of 40 free-field and 4 downhole-accelerometer stations (three in the Dahan Vertical Array and one in the Junkung Vertical Array). This array is designed mainly for the study of the rupture process of earthquake faulting and the characteristics of near-source ground motions. However, this high-quality (precise timing and high resolution) data set might be of further use in a variety of research areas both in Seismology and Earthquake Engineering.
Since the SMART-2 first started its operation, free-field stations have recorded 250 earthquakes with local magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 6.1, and the Dahan Vertical Array has also recorded 51 earthquakes. In this paper, the authors present the status of the SMART-2 and some preliminary analyses of its data. Most of the SMART-2 stations are placed in firm gravel deposits. In a conventional broad classification, the site conditions of these stations may be classified into the same category; however, significant variations in ground motions across the array suggest that additional factors ought to be considered when classifying them. In addition to recording ground motions, the array can provide data to locate earthquakes. In this paper, it is shown that strong-motion array data can be a supplement to a regional network r locating earthquakes especially for those close to the array.