Abstract: Yele Dam is a rockfill dam with an asphaltic concrete core wall. The maximum dam height is 124.5 m. The geological conditions are quite complex and have high seismic intensity. The foundation along the river is seriously asymmetry. The earthquake monitoring station has nine strong motion seismographs on Yele dam. They obtain seismic response records during Wenchuan earthquake and Panzhihua earthquake in 2008. A M7.0 earthquake occurred in Lushan county, Ya’an city, Sichuan province on April 20, 2013. Yele dam was shocked relatively strongly at a distance of 212.5 km away from the epicenter and the earthquake monitoring station obtained the relatively complete and effective records. Based on monitoring data, the time domain analysis and spectrum analysis of the main shock are discussed. Regularities of the dynamic response of Yele dam during the earthquake are summarized. The dynamic responses of Yele dam during Lushan earthquake and Wenchuan earthquake are compared. The results show that the maximum acceleration record due to Lushan earthquake on Yele dam is 47.043 cm/s2, the longest duration is 76.98 s, and the amplification effect at dam crest is obvious. Seismic wave spectral characteristics and vibration characteristics have greater impact on the differences of dam dynamic response during Lushan earthquake and Wenchuan earthquake. Overall, it is concluded that Yele dam remains in normal working state and Lushan earthquake doesn’t cause significant adverse effects on the dam.

Key words: Lushan earthquake, Yele dam, strong earthquake monitoring, seismic response