Probabilistic earthquake hazard assessment for Peninsular India

In this paper, a new probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) is presented for Peninsular India. The PSHA has been performed using three different recurrence models: a classical seismic zonation model, a fault model, and a grid model. The development of a grid model based on a non-parameterized recurrence model using an adaptation of the Kernel-based method that has not been applied to this region before. The results obtained from the three models have been combined in a logic tree structure in order to investigate the impact of different weights of the models. Three suitable attenuation relations have been considered in terms of spectral acceleration for the stable continental crust as well as for the active crust within the Gujarat region. While Peninsular India has experienced large earthquakes, e.g., Latur and Jabalpur, it represents in general a stable continental region with little earthquake activity, as also confirmed in our hazard results. On the other hand, our study demonstrates that both the Gujarat and the Koyna regions are exposed to a high seismic hazard. The peak ground acceleration for 10 % exceedance in 50 years observed in Koyna is 0.4 g and in the Kutch region of Gujarat up to 0.3 g. With respect to spectral acceleration at 1 Hz, estimated ground motion amplitudes are higher in Gujarat than in the Koyna region due to the higher frequency of occurrence of larger earthquakes. We discuss the higher PGA levels for Koyna compared Gujarat and do not accept them uncritically.     

Investigation on regional attenuation of Vrancea (Romania) intermediate-depth earthquakes

This paper aims at investigating possible regional attenuation patterns in the case of Vrancea(Romania) intermediate-depth earthquakes.Almost 500 pairs of horizontal components recorded during 13 intermediate-depth Vrancea earthquakes are employed in order to evaluate the regional attenuation patterns.The recordings are grouped according to the azimuth with regard to the Vrancea seismic source and subsequently,Q models are computed for each azimuthal zone assuming similar geometrical spreading.Moreover,the local soil amplification which was disregarded in a previous analysis performed for Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes is now clearly evaluated.The results show minor differences between the four regions situated in front of the Carpathian Mountains and considerable differences in attenuation of seismic waves between the forearc and backarc regions(with regard to the Carpathian Mountains).Consequently,an average Q model of the type Q(f) = 115×f~(1.25) is obtained for the four forearc regions,while a separate Q model of the type Q(f) = 70×f~(0.90) is computed for the backarc region.These results highlight the need to evaluate the seismic hazard of Romania by using ground motion models which take into account the different attenuation between the forearc/backarc regions.     

Simulations of Seismic Hazard for the Pacific Northwest of the United States from Earthquakes Associated with the Cascadia Subduction Zone

-- We investigate the impact of different rupture and attenuation models for the Cascadia subduction zone by simulating seismic hazard models for the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. at 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. We calculate the sensitivity of hazard (probabilistic ground motions) to the source parameters and the attenuation relations for both intraslab and interface earthquakes and present these in the framework of the standard USGS hazard model that includes crustal earthquakes. Our results indicate that allowing the deep intraslab earthquakes to occur anywhere along the subduction zone increases the peak ground acceleration hazard near Portland, Oregon by about 20%. Alternative attenuation relations for deep earthquakes can result in ground motions that differ by a factor of two. The hazard uncertainty for the plate interface and intraslab earthquakes is analyzed through a Monte-Carlo logic tree approach and indicates a seismic hazard exceeding 1 g (0.2 s spectral acceleration) consistent with the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps in western Washington, Oregon, and California and an overall coefficient of variation that ranges from 0.1 to 0.4. Sensitivity studies indicate that the paleoseismic chronology and the magnitude of great plate interface earthquakes contribute significantly to the hazard uncertainty estimates for this region. Paleoseismic data indicate that the mean earthquake recurrence interval for great earthquakes is about 500 years and that it has been 300 years since the last great earthquake. We calculate the probability of such a great earthquake along the Cascadia plate interface to be about 14% when considering a time-dependent model and about 10% when considering a time-independent Poisson model during the next 50-year interval.     

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.     

Criteria for Selecting and Adjusting Ground-Motion Models for Specific Target Regions: Application to Central Europe and Rock Sites

A vital component of any seismic hazard analysis is a model for predicting the expected distribution of ground motions at a site due to possible earthquake scenarios. The limited nature of the datasets from which such models are derived gives rise to epistemic uncertainty in both the median estimates and the associated aleatory variability of these predictive equations. In order to capture this epistemic uncertainty in a seismic hazard analysis, more than one ground-motion prediction equation must be used, and the tool that is currently employed to combine multiple models is the logic tree. Candidate ground-motion models for a logic tree should be selected in order to obtain the smallest possible suite of equations that can capture the expected range of possible ground motions in the target region. This is achieved by starting from a comprehensive list of available equations and then applying criteria for rejecting those considered inappropriate in terms of quality, derivation or applicability. Once the final list of candidate models is established, adjustments must be applied to achieve parameter compatibility. Additional adjustments can also be applied to remove the effect of systematic differences between host and target regions. These procedures are applied to select and adjust ground-motion models for the analysis of seismic hazard at rock sites in West Central Europe. This region is chosen for illustrative purposes particularly because it highlights the issue of using ground-motion models derived from small magnitude earthquakes in the analysis of hazard due to much larger events. Some of the pitfalls of extrapolating ground-motion models from small to large magnitude earthquakes in low seismicity regions are discussed for the selected target region.     

以空间光滑的地震活动性模型为空间分布函数的地震危险性分析方法

根据华北地区的地震目录,建立了4个空间光滑的地震活动性模型,并以这些模型为空间分布函数,将华北地震区每个地震带的地震年发生率分配到空间格点中,计算这一地区的地震危险性．结果表明,采用仪器记录地震计算得到的地震活动性模型和地震危险性结果能够反映华北地区现今的地震活动水平和地震危险性水平,符合人们对现今华北地区地震危险性的认识;采用历史破坏性地震（Mge;4.7）计算的地震活动性模型和地震危险性结果,较好地反映了华北地区中强地震活动区的地震危险性水平;以地震应变计算地震活动率,并根据点椭圆模型和线椭圆模型计算得到的地震活动性模型,能够较好地反映大地震的活动水平和空间构造特征．将根据4个模型计算得到的50年超越概率10%峰值加速度（PGA）分布加权平均,得到综合的华北地区PGA分布,并将该PGA分布与根据《中国地震动参数区划图》中综合潜源方案计算得到的50年超越概率10%的PGA分布做了比较,发现二者无本质差别,均能反映华北地震区的地震危险性水平．当然,二者也具有一定的差异:前者计算得到的符合PGAge;100 cm/s2条件的区域面积明显要比后者的大,而符合PGAge;250 cm/s2条件的区域面积则比后者的要小. 这主要是由于潜在震源区类型和空间分布函数不同造成的．      

中国大陆地震灾害分区人员死亡评估模型研究

针对现阶段地震人员死亡评估模型在评估特定区域地震时评估结果误差较大的问题,结合中国地震灾害特点、人口分布情况等,将中国大陆划分为西北、西南和大陆东部三个地区,并对各区域按照人口密度进行分级。采用多元非线性回归方法,选取震中烈度、震区面积、抗震设防烈度参数建立分区域的地震灾害人员死亡评估模型。研究结果表明,该模型在西北、西南地区的验证结果较好,适用于中国地震灾害情况,可以用于震后快速盲评估,在一定程度上能够避免评估不同震级、相同震中烈度和人口密度的地震时,出现相同结果的情况;虽然该模型在震例较少的大陆东部地区以及城市直下型地震中评估结果需要进一步改进,但为解决特定区域地震死亡评估中误差较大问题提供了思路,能够为震后应急指挥和救援提供数据参考。     

Ground motion prediction equation considering combined dataset of recorded and simulated ground motions

Himalayan region is one of the most active seismic regions in the world and many researchers have highlighted the possibility of great seismic event in the near future due to seismic gap. Seismic hazard analysis and microzonation of highly populated places in the region are mandatory in a regional scale. Region specific Ground Motion Predictive Equation (GMPE) is an important input in the seismic hazard analysis for macro- and micro-zonation studies. Few GMPEs developed in India are based on the recorded data and are applicable for a particular range of magnitudes and distances. This paper focuses on the development of a new GMPE for the Himalayan region considering both the recorded and simulated earthquakes of moment magnitude 5.3–8.7. The Finite Fault simulation model has been used for the ground motion simulation considering region specific seismotectonic parameters from the past earthquakes and source models. Simulated acceleration time histories and response spectra are compared with available records. In the absence of a large number of recorded data, simulations have been performed at unavailable locations by adopting Apparent Stations concept. Earthquakes recorded up to 2007 have been used for the development of new GMPE and earthquakes records after 2007 are used to validate new GMPE. Proposed GMPE matched very well with recorded data and also with other highly ranked GMPEs developed elsewhere and applicable for the region. Comparison of response spectra also have shown good agreement with recorded earthquake data. Quantitative analysis of residuals for the proposed GMPE and region specific GMPEs to predict Nepal–India 2011 earthquake of Mw of 5.7 records values shows that the proposed GMPE predicts Peak ground acceleration and spectral acceleration for entire distance and period range with lower percent residual when compared to exiting region specific GMPEs.     

基于特大地震发生率的川滇地区地震危险性预测新模型

川滇地区是我国地震危险性较高的地区之一.本文基于对特大强震的风险性考虑,使用全球地震模型OpenQuake软件,建立了川滇地区地震危险性预测新模型.首先根据构造特征划分多个震源分区,并整理出这些震源分区内断层活动特征与滑动速率;基于震源分区和断层模型,使用GPS应变率转换成的锥形古登堡-里克特关系作为整个区域的地震积累率,并允许超过历史最大震级的特大地震的出现,结合活动断层滑动速率所积累的地震发生率,给出震源分区内断层地震源和背景地震源的地震发生率的比率分配关系;在活动断层分段上,保留了大型断裂或其主要部分,没有根据小的阶区来对断层进行详细分段,以便分配特大地震发生率;并使用地震率平滑方法分配背景地震发生率.最后在OpenQuake中加入地震动预测方程,计算出了川滇地区的PGA分布图,为区域地震危险性提供科学依据.     

Potential rupture surface model and its application on probabilistic seismic hazard analysis

Potential sources are simplified as point sources or linear sources in current probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) methods. Focus size of large earthquakes is considerable, and fault rupture attitudes may have great influ-ence upon the seismic hazard of a site which is near the source. Under this circumstance, it is unreasonable to use the simplified potential source models in the PSHA, so a potential rupture surface model is proposed in this paper. Adopting this model, we analyze the seismic hazard near the Chelungpu fault that generated the Chi-Chi (Jiji) earthquake with magnitude 7.6 and the following conclusions are reached. 1 This model is reasonable on the base of focal mechanism, especially for sites near potential earthquakes with large magnitude; 2 The attitudes of poten-tial rupture surfaces have great influence on the results of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and seismic zoning.     

Use of Neural network to predict the peak ground accelerations and pseudo spectral accelerations for Mexican Inslab and Interplate Earthquakes

The use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is explored to predict peak ground accelerations (PGA) and pseudospectral acceleration (SA) for Mexican inslab and interplate earthquakes. A total of 277 and 418 seismic records with two horizontal components for inslab and interplate earthquakes, respectively, are used to train the ANN models by using an ANN with a feed-forward architecture with a back-propagation learning algorithm. Both ANN with single and two hidden layers are considered. For comparison purposes, the PGA and SA values predicted by the trained ANN models are compared with those estimated with attenuation relations or ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs). The comparison indicates that the predicted PGA and SA values by the trained ANN models, in general, follow the trends predicted by the GMPEs. However, an extensive verification of the trained models must be conducted before they can be used for seismic hazard and risk analysis since, on occasion, the PGA and SA values predicted by the trained ANN models depart from the behaviour observed from the actual records.     

Ground motion characterization and seismic hazard assessment in Spain: context,problems and recent developments

This article points out some particular features conditioning seismic hazard assessments (SHA) in Spain, a region with low–moderate seismicity. Although sized earthquakes occurred in the past, as evidenced by historical documents and neotectonic studies, no large events occurred during the last decades. The absence of strong motion records corresponding to earthquakes with magnitude larger than 5.5 is an important obstacle for the development of ground motion models constrained by local data, with the consequent difficulty in SHA studies. In this paper, some recent developments aiming at providing solutions to these difficulties are presented. Specifically, a strong motion databank containing a massive collection of accelerograms and response spectra from different configurations source-path-site corresponding to earthquakes all over the world is introduced, together with software utilities for its management. A first application of this databank is the development of specific ground motion models for Spain and for the Mediterranean region that predict peak ground accelerations as a function of several definitions of magnitude, distance and soil class. The predictive power of these ground motion models is tested by contrasting their estimates with recently recorded ground motions. The comparison between our ground-motion models with others proposed in the literature for other areas reveals a regular overestimation of the expected ground motions at Spanish sites by the non-local models. Consequently, SHA studies based in external models may overestimate the predicted hazard at the Iberian sites. In the last part of the paper a method for checking whether the response spectra proposed in the Spanish Building Code (NCSE-02) are consistent with actual accelerometric data from recent low magnitude earthquakes is applied. The spectral shapes of the Spanish Building Code NCSE-02 are compared with the response spectral shapes deduced from the available accelerograms by normalising the response spectra with the recorded PGA. It is appreciated that the NCSE-02 spectral shapes are exceeded by a large number of actual spectral shapes for short periods (around 0.2 s), a result to be taken into account in further revisions of the NCSE-02 code. The issues tackled in this work constitute not only an improvement for ground-motion characterisation in Spain, but also provide guidelines of general interest for potential applications in other regions with similar seismicity.     

Further information on the macroseismic field in the Balkan area

Papazachos and Papaioannou (1997) (called PP97 hereinafter) studied the macroseismic field in the Balkan area (Greece, Albania, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and western Turkey) with the purpose of deriving attenuation and scaling relations useful for seismic hazard assessment and study of historical earthquakes. In his comment, Trifunac suggests that our analysis might exhibit certain bias for all countries except Greece due to problems mainly associated with the database (completeness, etc.), conversion of local intensity scales used in the Balkan countries, as well as to the local variations of the attenuation relation due to the variation of the geotectonic environment in this area. Specifically, his most important comments can be summarized as follows: a) The large participation of Greek data probably biased the scaling relations proposed in the study. b) The conversion relations used between local macroseismic scales are less accurate than their proposed such relations. c) The variation of attenuation (geometrical and anelastic) in different regions of the study area is important and local relations (instead of the proposed single relation) should be determined for seismic hazard assessment. In the following, we study in detail each of these possible bias sources. Additional work on the macroseismic field of the Balkan area shows that none of the previously described factors, suggested by Trifunac, introduces bias in the results presented by PP97. Specifically, it is shown that the database used by PP97 fulfills the basic requirements for a reliable determinations of attenuation and scaling relations proper for seismic hazard assessment in all five countries of this area. Evidence is presented that no strong geographical variation of the attenuation of macroseismic intensities of shallow earthquakes is observed. Relations between local version of intensity scales suggested by Shebalin et al. (1974) are shown to be reliable. Finally, it is demonstrated that national practices for estimation of macroseismic intensities may affect the results of seismic hazard assessment but proper formulation can be applied (PP97) which allows to take into account such differences in national practices. This formulation allows also to introduce and correct for anisotropic radiation at the seismic source as well as the incorporation of site effects.     

Prediction and verification of earthquakes induced by the Xiluodu hydropower station reservoir

Research has been conducted on reservoir-induced earthquakes in China since the Xinfengjiang reservoir-induced earthquakes in the 1960s. Regulations now require the risk of reservoir-induced earthquakes to be evaluated in the pre-research stage of all hydropower projects. Although nearly 40 cases of reservoir-induced earthquakes have been reported in China, analyses comparing the changes in seismic activity following reservoir impoundment with predictions are rare. In this study, we compared seismic activities observed in the reservoir area before and after the impoundment of the Xiluodu hydropower station in terms of the spatial distribution, frequency, and focal depths of the earthquakes, and clarified the correlation between their frequency/timing and reservoir level after impoundment. We then concluded that the seismic events in the head region were karst-type earthquakes, while those in the second segment of the reservoir were tectonic earthquakes. The spatial distribution of the earthquake epicenters and the seismic intensities validated some of the results for the reservoir-induced seismic risk assessment for the Xiluodu hydropower station, indicating that the proposed earthquake triggers and predictive models are reasonable. This study can provide a valuable reference for investigating the mechanism (s) of reservoir-induced earthquakes, revising reservoir-induced earthquake hazard assessment codes, and predicting the hazard zones of reservoir-induced seismicity under similar conditions.     

Response spectral attenuation relations for in-slab earthquakes in Indo-Burmese subduction zone

From an analysis of a limited number of strong-motion data recorded in northeast Indian region, the in-slab earthquakes along the Indo-Burmese subduction zone are found to be characterized by much larger ground motion amplitudes than that for the earthquakes along other subduction zones around the world. Specific type of source, propagation path and site geologic condition may perhaps simultaneously be responsible for such anomalous behaviour. The empirical attenuation relations developed by Atkinson and Boore [3] using a global database for subduction zone earthquakes have been therefore suitably modified to be more appropriate for the northeast India. The modified relationships are developed by combining the data for both horizontal and vertical components of motion. The response spectra of the accelerograms recorded in northeast India from earthquakes with widely varying magnitude and distance are, in general, found to match very well with the predictions from the modified attenuation model. The proposed model can thus be used to obtain more realistic estimate of the contribution of in-slab subduction zone earthquakes to seismic hazard in the northeast Indian region.     

走滑型断层地表永久位移预测模型研究

论述了断层地表永久位移概率地震危险性分析方法的发展过程和应用现状,指出了断层地表破裂预测模型研究的意义。根据我国最近的活动断层地表破裂震后调查结果,基于走滑型断层地表破裂数据,拟合了地表破裂预测模型。采用地震活动性模型和地表破裂预测模型,计算了则木河断裂地表迹线上的永久位移危险性曲线,对预测模型在工程场地地震危险性分析中的应用,提出了建议。     

Influence of fluids and magma on earthquakes: seismological evidence

In this paper, we present seismological evidence for the influence of fluids and magma on the generation of large earthquakes in the crust and the subducting oceanic slabs under the Japan Islands. The relationship between seismic tomography and large crustal earthquakes (M=5.7-8.0) in Japan during a period of 116 years from 1885 to 2000 is investigated and it is found that most of the large crustal earthquakes occurred in or around the areas of low seismic velocity. The low-velocity zones represent weak sections of the seismogenic crust. The crustal weakening is closely related to the subduction process in this region. Along the volcanic front and in back-arc areas, the crustal weakening is caused by active volcanoes and arc magma resulting from the convective circulation process in the mantle wedge and dehydration reactions in the subducting slab. In the forearc region of southwest Japan, fluids are suggested in the 1995 Kobe earthquake source zone, which have contributed to the rupture nucleation. The fluids originate from the dehydration of the subducting Philippine Sea slab. The recent 2001 Geiyo earthquake (M=6.8) occurred at 50 km depth within the subducting Philippine Sea slab, and it was also related to the slab dehydration process. A detailed 3D velocity structure is determined for the northeast Japan forearc region using data from 598 earthquakes that occurred under the Pacific Ocean with hypocenters well located with SP depth phases. The results show that strong lateral heterogeneities exist along the slab boundary, which represent asperities and results of slab dehydration and affect the degree and extent of the interplate seismic coupling. These results indicate that large earthquakes do not strike anywhere, but only anomalous areas which can be detected with geophysical methods. The generation of a large earthquake is not a pure mechanical process, but is closely related to physical and chemical properties of materials in the crust and upper mantle, such as magma, fluids, etc.     

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.     

Ground‐motion attenuation relationship for the Sumatran megathrust earthquakes

A representative attenuation relationship is one of the key components required in seismic hazard assessment of a region of interest. Attenuation relationships for peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity and response spectral accelerations for Sumatran megathrust earthquakes, covering M_w up to 9.0, are derived based on synthetic seismograms obtained from a finite‐fault kinematic model. The relationships derived are for very hard rock site condition and for a long‐distance range between 200 and 1500 km. They are then validated with recorded data from giant earthquakes on the Sumatran megathrust occurring since year 2000. A close examination of the recorded data also shows that spectral shapes predicted by most of the existing attenuation relationships and that specified in the IBC code are not particularly suitable for sites where potential seismic hazard is dominated by large‐magnitude, distant, earthquakes. Ground motions at a remote site are typically signified by the dominance of long‐period components with periods longer than 1 s, whereas the predominant periods from most of the existing attenuation relationships and the IBC code are shorter than 0.6 s. The shifting of response spectrum towards longer period range for distant earthquakes should be carefully taken into account in the formulation of future seismic codes for Southeast Asia, where many metropolises are located far from active seismic sources. The attenuation relationship derived in the present study can properly reproduce the spectral shape from distant subduction earthquakes, and could hopefully give insights into the formulation of future seismic codes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.