Destructive and
significant earthquakes like the 1992 Dahshur Earthquake (Mb 5.8) in Egypt,
which caused extreme damage to lives and property, high mortality, and severe
injuries, may happen again with similar or different magnitudes and
intensities. Earthquake simulation requires three pieces of information: source
effect, wave propagation path, and site amplification factors. This study aims to separate the source, site,
and path effects of earthquakes recorded by the Egyptian Strong-Motion Network
(ESMN) to simulate ground
motions from a significant earthquake that may recur in Egypt. We applied the
spectral inversion method (generalized spectral inversion technique; GIT) using
the ground motion records observed at 20 stations for 52 earthquakes (M3–7.8)
to separate the factors. We regarded station HLWN as a reference rock site and station
ANSH as a divisor that recorded the maximum number of events. Finally, we
simulated the ground motions for a potential earthquake in Cairo (Mw7.0), using
the derived information from GIT and phase information from a small earthquake
in Cairo. The simulated waveform indicates peak ground accelerations of 58 cm/s2
at station HLWN, about 35 km from the epicenter, suggesting the possibility of
widespread strong ground motions in populated areas. This study shows that GIT
can provide physics-based ground motion estimations in Egypt.