Updated earthquake catalogue for seismic hazard analysis in Pakistan

A reliable and homogenized earthquake catalogue is essential for seismic hazard assessment in any area. This article describes the compilation and processing of an updated earthquake catalogue for Pakistan. The earthquake catalogue compiled in this study for the region (quadrangle bounded by the geographical limits 40–83° N and 20–40° E) includes 36,563 earthquake events, which are reported as 4.0–8.3 moment magnitude (M_W) and span from 25 AD to 2016. Relationships are developed between the moment magnitude and body, and surface wave magnitude scales to unify the catalogue in terms of magnitude M_W. The catalogue includes earthquakes from Pakistan and neighbouring countries to minimize the effects of geopolitical boundaries in seismic hazard assessment studies. Earthquakes reported by local and international agencies as well as individual catalogues are included. The proposed catalogue is further used to obtain magnitude of completeness after removal of dependent events by using four different algorithms. Finally, seismicity parameters of the seismic sources are reported, and recommendations are made for seismic hazard assessment studies in Pakistan.     

A Probabilistic Assessment of Earthquake Hazard Parameters in NW Himalaya and the Adjoining Regions

The maximum likelihood estimation method is applied to study the geographical distribution of earthquake hazard parameters and seismicity in 28 seismogenic source zones of NW Himalaya and the adjoining regions. For this purpose, we have prepared a reliable, homogeneous and complete earthquake catalogue during the period 1500–2010. The technique used here allows the data to contain either historical or instrumental era or even a combination of the both. In this study, the earthquake hazard parameters, which include maximum regional magnitude (M _max), mean seismic activity rate (λ), the parameter b (or β?=?b/log e) of Gutenberg–Richter (G–R) frequency-magnitude relationship, the return periods of earthquakes with a certain threshold magnitude along with their probabilities of occurrences have been calculated using only instrumental earthquake data during the period 1900–2010. The uncertainties in magnitude have been also taken into consideration during the calculation of hazard parameters. The earthquake hazard in the whole NW Himalaya region has been calculated in 28 seismogenic source zones delineated on the basis of seismicity level, tectonics and focal mechanism. The annual probability of exceedance of earthquake (activity rate) of certain magnitude is also calculated for all seismogenic source zones. The obtained earthquake hazard parameters were geographically distributed in all 28 seismogenic source zones to analyze the spatial variation of localized seismicity parameters. It is observed that seismic hazard level is high in Quetta-Kirthar-Sulaiman region in Pakistan, Hindukush-Pamir Himalaya region and Uttarkashi-Chamoli region in Himalayan Frontal Thrust belt. The source zones that are expected to have maximum regional magnitude (M _max) of more than 8.0 are Quetta, southern Pamir, Caucasus and Kashmir-Himanchal Pradesh which have experienced such magnitude of earthquakes in the past. It is observed that seismic hazard level varies spatially from one zone to another which suggests that the examined regions have high crustal heterogeneity and seismotectonic complexity.     

论发震构造特性在潜在震源区参数确定中的应用

发震构造特性是潜在震源区划分及其地震年发生率确定的重要依据。潜在震源区除了反映“未来具有发生破坏性地震的地区”的内涵外,还应反映高震级档地震具有相似复发特征的涵义。由于在地震活动性参数统计单元内,有一些具有不同本底地震的活动构造块体,为更好地反映地震活动的空间不均匀性,考虑潜在震源区的三级划分是有必要的。通过分析潜在震源区内高震级档地震的复发特征,计算预测时段内潜在震源区的高震级档地震的发震概率,采用预测时段内概率等效转换获得地震年平均发生率的方法,有助于在中国地震危险性分析框架内考虑潜在震源区的强震复发特性。另外,文中还对潜在震源区内特征地震次级震级档频度不足的特性和发震构造上强震非均匀性在地震危险性分析中的应用问题进行了探讨     

Seismogenic potential and earthquake hazard assessment in the Tell Atlas of Algeria

Seismotectonic zonation studies in the Tell Atlas of Algeria, a branch of the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary, provide a valuable input for deterministic seismic hazard calculations. We delineate a number of seismogenic zones from causal relationships established between geological structures and earthquakes and compile a working seismic catalogue mainly from readily available sources. To this catalogue, for a most rational and best-justified hazard analysis, we add estimates of earthquake size translated from active faulting characteristics. We assess the regional seismic hazard using a deterministic procedure based on the computation of complete synthetic seismograms (up to 1 Hz) by the modal summation technique. As a result, we generate seismic hazard maps of maximum velocity, maximum displacement, and design ground acceleration that blend information from geology, historical seismicity and observational seismology, leading to better estimates of the earthquake hazard throughout northern Algeria. Our analysis and the resulting maps illustrate how different the estimate of seismic hazard is based primarily on combined geologic and seismological data with respect to the one for which only information from earthquake catalogues has been used.     

Considering potential seismic sources in earthquake hazard assessment for Northern Iran

Located on the Alpine-Himalayan earthquake belt, Iran is one of the seismically active regions of the world. Northern Iran, south of Caspian Basin, a hazardous subduction zone, is a densely populated and developing area of the country. Historical and instrumental documented seismicity indicates the occurrence of severe earthquakes leading to many deaths and large losses in the region. With growth of seismological and tectonic data, updated seismic hazard assessment is a worthwhile issue in emergency management programs and long-term developing plans in urban and rural areas of this region. In the present study, being armed with up-to-date information required for seismic hazard assessment including geological data and active tectonic setting for thorough investigation of the active and potential seismogenic sources, and historical and instrumental events for compiling the earthquake catalogue, probabilistic seismic hazard assessment is carried out for the region using three recent ground motion prediction equations. The logic tree method is utilized to capture epistemic uncertainty of the seismic hazard assessment in delineation of the seismic sources and selection of attenuation relations. The results are compared to a recent practice in code-prescribed seismic hazard of the region and are discussed in detail to explore their variation in each branch of logic tree approach. Also, seismic hazard maps of peak ground acceleration in rock site for 475- and 2,475-year return periods are provided for the region.     

Fractal analysis of earthquake swarms of Vogtland/NW-Bohemia intraplate seismicity

The special type of intraplate microseismicity with swarm-like occurrence of earthquakes within the Vogtland/NW-Bohemian Region is analysed to reveal the nature and the origin of the seismogenic regime. The long-term data set of continuous seismic monitoring since 1962, including more than 26000 events within a range of about 5 units of local magnitude, provides an unique database for statistical investigations. Most earthquakes occur in narrow hypocentral volumes (clusters) within the lower part of the upper crust, but also single event occurrence outside of spatial clusters is observed. Temporal distribution of events is concentrated in clusters (swarms), which last some days until few month in dependence of intensity. Since 1962 three strong swarms occurred (1962, 1985/86, 2000), including two seismic cycles. Spatial clusters are distributed along a fault system of regional extension (Leipzig-Regensburger Störung), which is supposed to act as the joint tectonic fracture zone for the whole seismogenic region. Seismicity is analysed by fractal analysis, suggesting a unifractal behaviour of seismicity and uniform character of seismotectonic regime for the whole region. A tendency of decreasing fractal dimension values is observed for temporal distribution of earthquakes, indicating an increasing degree of temporal clustering from swarm to swarm. Following the idea of earthquake triggering by magma intrusions and related fluid and gas release into the tectonically pre-stressed parts of the crust, a steady increased intensity of intrusion and/or fluid and gas release might account for that observation. Additionally, seismic parameters for Vogtland/NW-Bohemia intraplate seismicity are compared with an adequate data set of mining-induced seismicity in a nearby mine of Lubin/Poland and with synthetic data sets to evaluate parameter estimation. Due to different seismogenic regime of tectonic and induced seismicity, significant differences between b-values and temporal dimension values are observed. Most significant for intraplate seismicity are relatively low fractal dimension values for temporal distribution. That observation reflects the strong degree of temporal earthquake clustering, which might explain the episodic character of earthquake swarms and support the idea of push-like triggering of earthquake avalanches by intruding magma.     

Neo-deterministic seismic hazard assessment in North Africa

North Africa is one of the most earthquake-prone areas of the Mediterranean. Many devastating earthquakes, some of them tsunami-triggering, inflicted heavy loss of life and considerable economic damage to the region. In order to mitigate the destructive impact of the earthquakes, the regional seismic hazard in North Africa is assessed using the neo-deterministic, multi-scenario methodology (NDSHA) based on the computation of synthetic seismograms, using the modal summation technique, at a regular grid of 0.2?×?0.2°. This is the first study aimed at producing NDSHA maps of North Africa including five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. The key input data for the NDSHA algorithm are earthquake sources, seismotectonic zonation, and structural models. In the preparation of the input data, it has been really important to go beyond the national borders and to adopt a coherent strategy all over the area. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the teams involved, it has been possible to properly merge the earthquake catalogues available for each country to define with homogeneous criteria the seismogenic zones, the characteristic focal mechanism associated with each of them, and the structural models used to model wave propagation from the sources to the sites. As a result, reliable seismic hazard maps are produced in terms of maximum displacement (D _max), maximum velocity (V _max), and design ground acceleration.     

Probabilistic Appraisal of Earthquake Hazard Parameters Deduced from a Bayesian Approach in the Northwest Frontier of the Himalayas

A straightforward Bayesian statistic is applied in five broad seismogenic source zones of the northwest frontier of the Himalayas to estimate the earthquake hazard parameters (maximum regional magnitude M _max, β value of G–R relationship and seismic activity rate or intensity λ). For this purpose, a reliable earthquake catalogue which is homogeneous for M _W ≥ 5.0 and complete during the period 1900 to 2010 is compiled. The Hindukush–Pamir Himalaya zone has been further divided into two seismic zones of shallow (h ≤ 70 km) and intermediate depth (h > 70 km) according to the variation of seismicity with depth in the subduction zone. The estimated earthquake hazard parameters by Bayesian approach are more stable and reliable with low standard deviations than other approaches, but the technique is more time consuming. In this study, quantiles of functions of distributions of true and apparent magnitudes for future time intervals of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 years are calculated with confidence limits for probability levels of 50, 70 and 90 % in all seismogenic source zones. The zones of estimated M _max greater than 8.0 are related to the Sulaiman–Kirthar ranges, Hindukush–Pamir Himalaya and Himalayan Frontal Thrusts belt; suggesting more seismically hazardous regions in the examined area. The lowest value of M _max (6.44) has been calculated in Northern-Pakistan and Hazara syntaxis zone which have estimated lowest activity rate 0.0023 events/day as compared to other zones. The Himalayan Frontal Thrusts belt exhibits higher earthquake magnitude (8.01) in next 100-years with 90 % probability level as compared to other zones, which reveals that this zone is more vulnerable to occurrence of a great earthquake. The obtained results in this study are directly useful for the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment in the examined region of Himalaya.     

基于密集台阵研究龙门山断裂带南段地震空段的地震活动性

2016年12月—2018年4月间布设于汶川、芦山地震之间地震空段的密集监测台阵(LmsSGA)提供了密集的观测数据.通过拾取地震走时、初始定位,计算地方震级,得到了完备性震级为0级的地震目录.更加完备的地震目录为地震空段及周围地震活动的时空分布特征和孕震风险性评估提供了丰富的信息.重定位结果显示地震主要集中于龙门山断裂带深度为5～20km的孕震层内.地震活动频繁的汶川、芦山主震区,震源的空间分布模式与其早期余震相似,说明两次大地震的区域仍处于缓慢的应力调整阶段.青藏高原物质东向挤出受宝兴、彭灌杂岩阻挡,在两个杂岩体西北侧地震活动频繁.地震活动性分布显示汶川—茂县、映秀—北川断裂上存在一个清晰的长约30km,宽约20km的地震活动"空白"区域,与其下方因部分熔融而产生的低速体分布一致,我们推测熔融体的加温作用是导致空段内极低的地震活动性的主要原因.监测时段内仍观测到降雨变化率和地震数量呈反相关关系,再次证实了汶川—芦山地震间地震空段及邻区内季节性降雨对地震活动性存在一定调节作用.综合分析S波速度模型、历史强震活动及b值,我们推断地震空段东部的彭灌断裂中段及周围部分隐伏断层存在发生强震的风险.     

基于地震安全性评价的广东省地震危险性分析

地震安全性评价是防震减灾的重要措施之一。地震危险性分析是地震安全性评价的基础。论文利用安全性评价基本理论和方法对广东省的地震危险性进行分析。以广东省历史上发生的中强地震目录作为研究基础,分析了广东省的地质构造特点和断裂特点,划分潜在地震源、确定地震活动性参数,建立了地震发生概率模型,通过计算得出地震带的综合影响。研究结果表明广东省内具有发生7.5、 6.5、 6.0、 5.5级级段地震的发震条件,其中沿海地区是广东省中、强地震的主要发震区域。     

Seismic hazard model for loss estimation and risk management in Taiwan

We developed a seismic hazard model for Taiwan that integrates all available tectonic, seismicity, and seismic hazard information in the region to provide risk managers and engineers with a model they can use to estimate earthquake losses and manage seismic risk in Taiwan. The seismic hazard model is composed of two major components: a seismotectonic model and a ground-shaking model. The seismotectonic model incorporates earthquakes that are expected to occur on the Ryukyu and Manila subduction zones, on the intermediate-depth Wadati-Benioff seismicity zones, on the active crustal faults, and within seismotectonic provinces. The active crustal faults include the Chelungpu fault zone, the source of the damaging M_W 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake, and the Huangchi-Hsiaoyukeng fault zone that forms the western boundary of the Taipei Basin. The ground-shaking model uses both US, worldwide, and Taiwanese attenuation relations to provide robust estimates of peak ground acceleration and response spectral acceleration on a reference site condition for shallow crustal and subduction zone earthquakes. The ground shaking for other site conditions is obtained by applying a nonlinear soil-amplification factor defined in terms of the average shear-wave velocity in the top 30 m of the soil profile, consistent with the methodology used in the current US and proposed Taiwan building codes.     

Seismicity parameters for important urban agglomerations in India

India’s urban population has increased in the recent times. An earthquake near an urban agglomeration has the potential to cause severe damage. In this article, seismicity parameters for region surrounding important urban agglomerations in India are estimated. A comprehensive earthquake catalogue for the region (6°E–42°E latitude and 60°N–100°N longitude) including historic and pre-historic events has been compiled from various sources. To estimate the parameters, past earthquake data in a control region of radius 300 km has been assembled to quantify the seismicity around each urban agglomeration. The collected earthquake data is first evaluated for its completeness. From combined (historical and instrumental) data, the seismicity parameters b-value, seismic activity rate, λ and maximum expected magnitude (m _max ) have been obtained from the methodology proposed by Kijko and Graham (1998). The obtained activity rates indicate that region surrounding Guwahati urban agglomeration is the most seismically active region followed by Srinagar, Patna, Amritsar and Chandigarh.     

A parametric representation of Kamchatka seismicity over time

This paper presents a set of seismicity parameters that are estimated at the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, Russian Academy of Sciences based on the regional catalog data with the purpose of routine monitoring of the current seismic situation in the region. The focus is on the identification of changes in the seismic regime (seismic quiescences and seismicity increases) in earth volumes adjacent to the maturing rupture zone of a large earthquake. The techniques we use include estimation of the seismicity level for the region using the SOUS’09 scale; calculation of the variations in the slope of the recurrence relation, identification of statistically significant anomalies in the slope using the Z test, and calculation of the seismic activity A ₁₀; monitoring the RTL parameter and variations in the area of seismogenic ruptures; using the Z test to detect areas of statistically significant decreases in the rate of seismicity; and identification of earthquake clusters. We furnish examples of such anomalies in these seismicity parameters prior to large earthquakes in Kamchatka.     

20世纪云南地震活动研究

２０世纪云南地区地震活动以极高的频度、强度和成灾率而位居我国大陆之前列。本通过对过去百年地震活动所做的研究作一总结,归纳出一系列关于 区地震活动规律及其控制地震孕育发展的地球动力过程的基本认识,以期对将要进入的２１世纪的地震监测布局、成因研究、预测预报工作有一定的指导作用。     

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for Thailand

A set of probabilistic seismic hazard maps for Thailand has been derived using procedures developed for the latest US National Seismic Hazard Maps. In contrast to earlier hazard maps for this region, which are mostly computed using seismic source zone delineations, the presented maps are based on the combination of smoothed gridded seismicity, crustal-fault, and subduction source models. Thailand’s composite earthquake catalogue is revisited and expanded, covering a study area limited by 0°–30°N Latitude and 88°–110°E Longitude and the instrumental period from 1912 to 2007. The long-term slip rates and estimates of earthquake size from paleoseismological studies are incorporated through a crustal fault source model. Furthermore, the subduction source model is used to model the megathrust Sunda subduction zones, with variable characteristics along the strike of the faults. Epistemic uncertainty is taken into consideration by the logic tree framework incorporating basic quantities, such as different source modelling, maximum cut-off magnitudes and ground motion prediction equations. The ground motion hazard map is presented over a 10 km grid in terms of peak ground acceleration and spectral acceleration at 0.2, 1.0, and 2.0 undamped natural periods and a 5% critical damping ratio for 10 and 2% probabilities of exceedance in 50 years. The presented maps give expected ground motions that are based on more extensive data sources than applied in the development of previous maps. The main findings are that northern and western Thailand are subjected to the highest hazard. The largest contributors to short- and long-period ground motion hazard in the Bangkok region are from the nearby active faults and Sunda subduction zones, respectively.     

Delineation of potential seismic sources for seismic zoning of Iran

A total of 235 potential seismic sources in Iran and neighboring regions are delineated based on available geological, geophysical, tectonic and earthquake data for seismic hazard assessment of the country. In practice, two key assumptions are considered; first, the assumption of earthquake repeatedness, implying that major earthquakes occur preferentially near the sites of previous earthquakes; second, the assumption of tectonic analogy, which implies that structures of analogous tectonic setting are capable of generating same size earthquakes. A two-step procedure is applied for delineation of seismic sources: first, demarcation of seismotectonic provinces; second, determination of potential seismic sources. Preferentially, potential seismic sources are modeled as area sources, in which the configuration of each source zone is controlled, mainly, by the extent of active faults, the mechanism of earthquake faultings and the seismogenic part of the crust.     

Assessment of seismic hazard in the North Caucasus

The seismicity of the North Caucasus is the highest in the European part of Russia. The detection of potential seismic sources here and long-term prediction of earthquakes are extremely important for the assessment of seismic hazard and seismic risk in this densely populated and industrially developed region of the country. The seismogenic structures of the Iran-Caucasus-Anatolia and Central Asia regions, adjacent to European Russia, are the subjects of this study. These structures are responsible for the specific features of regional seismicity and for the geodynamic interaction with adjacent areas of the Scythian and Turan platforms. The most probable potential sources of earthquakes with magnitudes M = 7.0 ± 0.2 and 7.5 ± 0.2 in the North Caucasus are located. The possible macroseismic effect of one of them is assessed.     

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment of the Pyrenean region

A unified probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) for the Pyrenean region has been performed by an international team composed of experts from Spain and France during the Interreg IIIA ISARD project. It is motivated by incoherencies between the seismic hazard zonations of the design codes of France and Spain and by the need for input data to be used to define earthquake scenarios. A great effort was invested in the homogenisation of the input data. All existing seismic data are collected in a database and lead to a unified catalogue using a local magnitude scale. PSHA has been performed using logic trees combined with Monte Carlo simulations to account for both epistemic and aleatory uncertainties. As an alternative to hazard calculation based on seismic sources zone models, a zoneless method is also used to produce a hazard map less dependant on zone boundaries. Two seismogenic source models were defined to take into account the different interpretations existing among specialists. A new regional ground-motion prediction equation based on regional data has been proposed. It was used in combination with published ground-motion prediction equations derived using European and Mediterranean data. The application of this methodology leads to the definition of seismic hazard maps for 475- and 1,975-year return periods for spectral accelerations at periods of 0 (corresponding to peak ground acceleration), 0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1 and 2 s. Median and percentiles 15% and 85% acceleration contour lines are represented. Finally, the seismic catalogue is used to produce a map of the maximum acceleration expected for comparison with the probabilistic hazard maps. The hazard maps are produced using a grid of 0.1°. The results obtained may be useful for civil protection and risk prevention purposes in France, Spain and Andorra.     

Rating of seismicity and reconstruction of the fault geometries in northern Tien Shan within the project “Seismic Hazard Assessment for Almaty”

The project “Seismic Hazard Assessment for Almaty” has a main objective to improve existing seismic hazard maps for the region of northern Tien Shan and especially for the surroundings of Almaty and to generate a new geodynamic model of the region.In the first step a composite seismic catalogue for the northern Tien Shan region was created, which contains about 20,000 events and is representative for strong earthquakes for the period back to the year 500. For the period of instrumental observation 1911–2006 the catalogue contains data for earthquakes with a body wave magnitude larger than 4. For smaller events with magnitudes up to 2.2 the data are only available since 1980. The composite catalogue was created on the basis of several catalogues from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), local catalogues from the Kazakh National Data Centre (KNDC) and the USSR earthquake catalogue. Due to the different magnitudes used in several catalogues a magnitude conversion was necessary.Event density maps were created to rate the seismicity in the region and to identify seismic sources. Subsurface fault geometries were constructed using tectonic model which uses fault parallel material flow and is constrained by GPS data. The fault geometry should improve the estimation of the expected seismic sources from seismic density maps.First analysis of the earthquake catalogue and the density maps has shown that nearly all large events are related to fault systems. Annual seismicity distribution maps suggest different processes as the cause for the seismic events. Apart from tectonics, also fluids play a major part in triggering of the earthquakes.Beneath the Issyk-Kul basin the absence of strong seismic activity suggests aseismic sliding at the flat ramp in a ductile crust part and low deformation within the stable Issyk-Kul micro-continent which underthrust the northern ranges of Tien Shan. First results suggest a new partition of the region in tectonic units, whose bounding faults are responsible for most of the seismic activity.