Evaluating the effects of ground motion parameters on response spectra in Uttarakhand Himalayas,India

Uttarakhand, a state of India, is located in seismically active Himalayan region and in the proximity of plate boundaries. The effects of important ground motion parameters like magnitude, distance, and local geology and site conditions on acceleration response spectra are examined in Uttarakhand Himalayas in this work. A total of 447 strong ground motion histories (horizontal and vertical) from 42 earthquakes were selected. The results show that the shape of the acceleration response spectra is influenced by the local site conditions and regional geology. The studies are carried out for two categories of sites, i.e., rock sites and soft soil sites. The maximum average horizontal spectral amplification for rock sites is 2.7 at 0.1 s, while for soft soil sites, it is found to be 3.2 at 0.2 s. In the same way, the maximum average vertical spectral amplification for rock is found to be 2.7 at 0.1 s, while for soft soil, it is found to be 2.95 at 0.1 s. The average spectral amplification in vertical component also shifts from low period (rock) to high period (soft soil). The level of spectra increases with decrease in distance for rock sites as well as soft soil sites. When comparing different magnitude earthquakes in different geological conditions, the response spectra are found to follow each other up to 0.04 s, while for period greater than 0.04 s, the spectra of higher magnitude earthquake is observed on the higher side. For soft soil sites, spectra from different magnitude earthquakes are observed to follow each other up to 0.1 s, beyond which they get separated.     

A source and ground motion study of earthquakes in and near Delhi (the National Capital Region), India

Natural Hazards - We study source parameters of 10 local earthquakes (2.7 ≤  $$M_{w}$$ ≤ 4.5) that have occurred in the National Capital Region (NCR) since 2001 and...     

Evidence of site amplification from ground motion of the last two large crustal earthquakes in central-western Argentina

Natural Hazards - The present study has investigated site amplification effects from the analysis of peak ground accelerations (PGA) and spectral accelerations (SA) of the last two major crustal...     

Role of transverse tectonics in the Himalayan collision: Further evidences from two contemporary earthquakes

Two contemporary earthquakes originating in the central Himalayan arc and its foredeep (Sikkim earthquake of 18.09.2011, M_w 6.9, h: 10–60 (?) km and Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 20.08.1988, Mw 6.8, h: 57 km) are commonly associated with transverse lineaments/faults traversing the region. Such lineaments/faults form active seismic blocks defining promontories for the advancing Indian Craton. These actually produce conjugate shear faulting pattern suggestive of pervasive crustal interplay deep inside the mountains. Focal mechanism solutions allow inferring that large part of the current convergence across the central Himalayan arc is accommodated by lateral slip. Similar slip also continues unabated in the densely populated foredeep for distances up to several tens of kilometers south of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT).     

The Garzon fault: active southwestern boundary of the Caribbean plate in Colombia

We propose active right-lateral strike-slip motion on the Garzon fault zone of the Neiva basin, Colombia, based on the identification of two active right-stepping releasing bend basins along the fault using stereoscopic analysis of 1/250000 SPOT images. The Garzon fault connects the Bocono-Pamplona-Guaicaramo fault zones of Venezuela and Colombia with the Romeral, Dolores and Guayaquil faults of Colombia. Together these faults form a continuous, active right-lateral fault between accreted terranes in northwestern South America and a more stable South America plate. We infer 5-km right-lateral offset of the Garzon fault based on the width of the Algeciras releasing bend basin.     

Atmospheric aerosol characteristics retrieved using ground based solar extinction studies at Mohal in the Kullu valley of northwestern Himalayan region,India

Aerosol parameters are measured using a ground-based Multi-wavelength Radiometer (MWR) at Mohal (31.90°N, 77.11°E, 1154 m amsl) in the Kullu valley during clear sky days of a seasonal year. The study shows that the values of spectral aerosol optical depths (AODs) at 500 nm and the Ångstrom turbidity coefficient ‘β’ (a measure of columnar loading in atmosphere) are high (0.41 ± 0.03, 0.27 ± 0.01) in summer, moderate (0.30 ± 0.03, 0.15 ± 0.03) in monsoon, low (0.19 ± 0.02, 0.08 ± 0.01) in winter and lowest (0.18 ± 0.01, 0.07 ± 0.01) in autumn, respectively. The Ångstrom wavelength exponent ‘α’ (indicator of the fraction of accumulation-mode particles to coarse-mode particles) has an opposite trend having lowest value (0.64 ± 0.06) in summer, low (0.99 ± 0.10) in monsoon, moderate (1.20 ± 0.15) in winter and highest value (1.52 ± 0.03) in autumn. The annual mean value of AOD at 500 nm, ‘α’ and ‘β’ are 0.24 ± 0.01, 1.06 ± 0.09 and 0.14 ± 0.01, respectively. The fractional asymmetry factor is more negative in summer due to enhanced tourists’ arrival and also in autumn months due to the month-long International Kullu Dussehra fair. The AOD values given by MWR and satellite-based moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer have good correlation of 0.76, 0.92 and 0.97 on diurnal, monthly and seasonal basis, respectively. The AODs at 500 nm as well as ‘β’ are found to be highly correlated, while ‘α’ is found to be strongly anti-correlated with temperature and wind speed suggesting high AODs and turbidity but low concentration of fine particles during hot and windy days. With wind direction, the AOD and ‘β’ are found to be strongly anti-correlated, while ‘α’ is strongly correlated.     

Estimation of S-wave site response in and around Delhi region from weak motion data

Site response in and around Delhi is studied using digital seismograms recorded by a thirteen-station VSAT-based 24-bit digital Delhi telemetry network of the India Meteorological Department. Nine local (M _l ≥ 2.3) and nine regional (M _l ≥ 3.9) earthquakes are selected for the estimation of site amplification factor using the classical standard spectral ratio for regional events (Ridge Delhi Observatory being the reference station), normalized standard spectral ratio for local events, horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio or receiver function and the generalized inversion techniques in the frequency range of 0.5 to 7.5 Hz. Site response curves at all the thirteen stations exhibit station to station variation of the site amplification factor reflecting the changes in geologic/geotectonic/soil conditions. A comparison of the site response values obtained by the generalized inversion with those computed using receiver function technique shows a large scatter even though the pattern of the curves remain more or less similar. However, the site effects computed by generalized inversion and standard spectral ratio exhibit a good 1:1 correspondence. The peaks yielded by all the methods have been observed to occur at the same frequencies. It is evident that the softer fluvial deposits of the newer alluvium of the east Yamuna sector show steeper site amplification gradient at lower frequencies, while the greater Delhi experiences moderate site amplification. The variation of site response corroborates the abrupt changes in intensity from one location to another due to local site condition.     

Nonlinear site response evaluation of earthquakes: A case study from Sirdjan Balvavard Bridge,Kerman province,Iran

The aim of this study is to illustrate the soil conditions encountered at the proposed bridge sites to analyze and evaluate the test conducted, submit recommendations regarding foundation design. At first by field investigation, the required data was collected and after primary processing the acceptable data was selected. For nonlinear analysis of elastic and rigid half space bed rock, standard hyperbolic model was selected and performed, and the results were compared. The study clearly showed that the effect of bed rock on soil behavior during earthquake is one of the main factors controlling prediction of ground response. A critical aspect of this work was to develop and use a computer code “Abbas Converter” developed by the authors that has several advantages, such as quick installation, acting as a connecter function between the used softwares which can generate the input data corresponding to a defined format and finally, the results of this computer code can be easily exported to the other softwares used in this study. Moreover this code can make it easy to solve the problems encountered.     

A study of turbulent characteristics of atmospheric boundary layer over monsoon trough region using Kytoon and Doppler sodar

As a part of the MONTBLEX-90 observational programme, Kytoon and Doppler sodar observations were taken at Kharagpur. These data are analysed to study the turbulent characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer in terms of stability, temperature structure function (C _T ² ) and velocity structure function (C _v ² ).C _T ² follows aZ ^−4/3 law on most of the days, whereas the variation ofC _V ² is not systematic.C _V ² andC _T ² values are found to vary between 10⁻⁵−10⁻¹ m^4/3s⁻² and 10⁻⁵−10⁻²°C² m^−2/3 respectively.     

A study on the identification of liquefaction-induced failures on ground surface based on the data from the 1999 Kocaeli and Chi-Chi earthquakes

One of the major causes of earthquake damage is liquefaction. However, it doesn't result in severe harm unless it leads to ground surface damage or ground failure. Therefore, prediction of potential for ground surface damage due to liquefaction is one of the important issues in microzonation studies for liquefaction-induced damage in areas with high seismicity. In 1985, based on a database compiled from Chinese and Japanese earthquakes, Ishihara considered the influence of the non-liquefied cap soil on the occurrence or non-occurrence of ground failure (mainly sand boiling), and proposed an empirical approach to predict the potential for ground surface damage at sites susceptible to liquefaction. However, some investigators indicated that this approach is not generally valid for sites susceptible to lateral spread or ground oscillation. In this study, a contribution to improve the approach by Ishihara is made. For the purpose, an index called liquefaction severity index (LSI) and data from two devastating earthquakes, which occurred in Turkey and Taiwan in 1999, were employed. The data from liquefied and non-liquefied sites were grouped and then analysed. Based on the observations reported by reconnaissance teams who visited both earthquake sites and the results of the liquefaction potential analyses using the filed-performance data, a chart to assess the potential for ground surface disruption at liquefaction-prone areas was produced. The analyses suggest that the procedure proposed by Ishihara is quite effective particularly for the occurrence of sand boils, while the bounds suggested in this method generally may not be valid for the prediction of liquefaction-induced ground surface disruption at sites susceptible to lateral spreading. The chart proposed in this study shows an improvement over the Ishihara's approach for predicting the liquefaction-induced ground surface damage. The microzonation maps comparing the liquefaction sites observed along the southern shore of Izmit Bay and in Yuanlin, and the surface damage and non-damage zones predicted from the proposed chart can identify accurately the liquefaction (sand boiling and lateral spreading) and no-liquefaction sites.     

Very high strains recorded in mylonites along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: implications for the deep structure of plate boundary faults

Oblique displacement on the Alpine Fault, which forms the principal structure along the Australian–Pacific plate boundary in South Island, New Zealand, has resulted in exhumation of a kilometre-wide mylonite zone in the hanging wall adjacent to the current brittle fault trace. The mylonites formed under amphibolite facies conditions at depths of ca. 25 km and have been uplifted during the past 5 Ma. A suite of 65–70 Ma pegmatite veins in the hanging wall Alpine schists has been progressively deformed within the mylonite zone and sheared out over a strike length of ca. 100 km. Measurements of the thickness distribution of the pegmatite veins within the non-mylonitised schists and at three localities within the progressively strained mylonites have been used to estimate strain values within the mylonites. The thicknesses approximate a log-normal distribution, with a mean value that is progressively reduced through the protomylonites, mylonites and ultramylonites. By assuming that the thickness distribution currently observed in the schists was the same for the pegmatites within the mylonites before strain, a model of deformation incorporating simple shear and simultaneous pure shear is used to strain the undeformed veins until a fit is obtained with the strained distributions. Shear strains calculated range from 12 to 22 for the protomylonites, 120 to 200 for the mylonites and 180 to 300 for the ultramylonites, corresponding to pure shear values of 1–3 in each case. These values are compatible with the strains predicted if most of the surface displacement on the fault over the past 5 Ma were accommodated within a 1–2-km-wide mylonite zone through the middle and lower crusts. The results suggest that processes such as erosional focussing of deformation and thermal weakening may cause intense strain localisation within the lower crust, with plate boundary deformation restricted to narrow zones rather than becoming increasingly distributed over a widening shear zone with depth.     

近远震作用下黄土滑坡动力响应与变形——以甘肃天水震区黎坪村滑坡为例

中国黄土高原区地震滑坡灾害效应重、潜在风险高,地震滑坡响应和变形机理是研究热点之一。以天水震区黎坪村大型黄土滑坡为例,采用标准正弦波探讨了近远震地震动要素对滑坡动力响应的影响特征,采用汶川远震和岷县近震地震动时程记录反演了滑坡实际变形特征。结果显示,测点PGA放大系数随振幅的变化规律与坡体位置有关,测点PGA放大系数在坡体位置大于0.75倍坡高时,随振幅的增加而减小;当小于0.75倍坡高时,随振幅的增加而显著增强;测点PGA放大系数与频率变化呈负相关性,即随着频率的增加而减小。坡体变形与振幅和持时变化呈正相关性,即测点最大水平和竖直位移随着振幅和持时增加而增加,滑坡急剧变形的临界幅值约为0.05 g;坡体变形与频率变化呈负相关性,坡体测点最大水平和竖直位移随频率变大呈下降趋势,滑坡急剧变形临界频率约为5 Hz;对比分析显示,振幅对坡体失稳的影响程度大于频率的影响程度。相比岷县近震,坡体主滑体滑动与汶川远震产生的高幅值、低频率及长持时的地震波作用密不可分,表明在地震滑坡稳定性研究时,如果忽视远场强震影响,可能导致潜在安全风险。关于近震和远震作用下滑坡动力响应及其变形差异研究方法对地震滑坡稳定性分析研究具有借鉴意义。     

Inverting ground motion from a seismometer array to obtain the vertical component of rotation: A test using data from explosions

To study factors that affect reliability of the derived vertical rotational ground motions (about vertical axis) from translational array waveforms, we have conducted a field test using explosion. The dataset was collected on March 4, 2008 from an active source experiment of the Taiwan Geodynamics Research project (TAIGER, 2008), in which 750 kg of explosives were set off about 500 m away from a specially designed seismic array in free field consisting of 8 tri-axial rotational sensors, 13 tri-axial accelerometers, and 12 six-channel, 24-bit dataloggers with GPS receivers. Our results show that the waveform fits were greatly improved when the explosion-induced crustal strains were less than 2 × 10⁻⁵ for our station configuration. As a result, our modeling for the large amplitude part of the mainshock was not entirely successful. However, we have successfully recovered the first order features of the later part of the vertical rotational ground motions using translational velocity waveforms in the 0.5–20 Hz bandwidth using the Spudich and Fletcher’s procedure (2009). Moreover, we used a modified Jaeger’s (1969) formula and derived similar rotational synthetics. We found that the best rotational rate waveform fits were derived using a station configuration of a dense, small-aperture, translational array combined with a few large-offset stations. A small-aperture array is needed to fulfill the uniform rotation assumption. However, inverting data from an array of small spatial dimension requires waveforms of high signal to noise ratio and high sampling rates. Surprisingly, large-offset translation stations provided additional constraints in time and space, helping to fit the low frequency waveforms. Using the inverted result, we forward predicted the vertical translational waveforms not used in the inversion and got excellent fits. This suggests that the inverted results are of good quality for predicting the complete translational ground motions, even though only horizontal components were used in the inversion. Array-derived or directly measured rotational ground motions can be used to predict translational ground motions in the near-by region. Lessons learned from this study could be helpful for future studies using translational ground motions to derive dynamic ground strains, tilts, and torsions.     

巽他弧北部掸邦高原地壳变形、长期块体运动和发震过程:来自大地测量研究结果的约束

本文通过约束大地测量研究来探索掸邦高原及其周围地区现今的地壳变形和长期块体运动,以期提供该地区地球动力学和相关地震危险状况的最新状态。掸邦高原在横向上由西侧的萨干(Sagaing)断裂和东侧的红河断裂这两条主要断裂包围。其中,青藏高原地壳的韧性流挤压被认为是该夹层变形单元变形的主要因素。大地测量清楚地表明,萨干断裂和红河断裂段分别具有约18 mm/a和约45 mm/a右旋运动走滑速率。此外,掸邦高原内部断层体系大地滑移累积表现为1213 mm/a的整体左旋运动速率。我们认为相对于刚性巽他古陆,研究区域的形变分布和长期块体运动主要受区域书架型断层作用控制,其原因是掸邦高原两侧的主断裂(萨干断裂和红河断裂)存在差异性断裂活动。     

Tectonic evolution of an active tectonostratigraphic boundary in accretionary wedge: An example from the Tulungwan-Chaochou Fault system,southern Taiwan

The Tulungwan-Chaochou Fault system in southern Taiwan represents the boundary between a slate belt of moderate metamorphic grade and a relatively unmetamorphosed fold-and-thrust belt. The offset between hanging wall and footwall of this fault ranges from 7 to 11 km and is considered one of the major tectonostratigraphic faults in Taiwan. This 75-km-long fault system is also one of the most conspicuous topographic features in Taiwan. The geometry, kinematic history and associated subsidiary structures have not been resolved. Field mapping of fabrics and brittle faults show that a 45-km-long west-northwest-vergent antiform defined by folded slaty cleavage exists in the hanging wall of the fault. This antiform has not been previously described and apparently formed in a brittle environment. The flat crest and tight forelimb of the antiform suggests a two-stage deformation model composed of a fault-bend fold followed by a trishear fold. We infer that regional scale fold is associated with a thrust that splays upward from the main detachment.     

Detection of underground cavities by combining gravity,magnetic and ground penetrating radar surveys: a case study from the Zaragoza area,NE Spain

A geophysical survey routine is proposed to detect underground cavities and dolines; it is based on the sequential application of magnetic, low-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) and microgravity techniques. A case study near Zaragoza (Ebro valley, Spain) demonstrates the applicability of these methods. The strong contrast of magnetic and electromagnetic properties (and to a lesser scale, of density) between the doline filling and the surrounding stratified Tertiary and Quaternary rocks allows the shape of filled cavities to be clearly outlined by these methods.     

Causes and extent of environmental impacts of landslide hazard in the Himalayan region: a case study of Murree, Pakistan

Pakistan is located at the cross-roads of plate boundaries, experiencing multiple hazards of earthquake, flood, drought, water-logging, salinization and recurrent landslides. This paper examines the causes and environmental impacts of frequently occurring landslide hazards in the Murree area of Pakistan??s Himalayan region. These are wide ranging in nature and in terms of the damage that result. The area under research was divided into eight blocks and randomly data collected. It was observed that landslides mostly occur along the road network and disturbed slopes. Immature geology, a wide variation in climate and degradation of the natural resource-base were found to be some of the causal factors responsible for the landslide hazards. During the past three decades, rapid expansion of urban zones contributed to the changing vulnerability of the area. The analysis revealed that a large majority of the households (75%) in the area have been directly or indirectly affected by landslide hazards. Damages to already scarce agricultural land, infrastructure and other properties are each year a regular and escalating phenomenon. Landslide size, frequency and consequent costs of damage have increased considerably.     

Dynamics of geophysical medium from power spectral density of microseisms before and after earthquakes: case study of Bureya massif,Amur region

The time–frequency parameters of weak earthquakes and microseisms are studied. The qualitative and quantitative relationships of the power spectral density of seismic waves are established; these relationships vary in terms of frequency spectrum for the areas of the northeastern framing of the Tan Lu fault system and Bureya massif. The reason for these differences could be the influence of the crustal geological structure near the observations points. Resulting from the time–frequency analysis of weak earthquakes, two sites located in the Tan Lu fault zone show an increase in the power spectrum at frequencies of 1 to 5 Hz and the resonant excitation of the medium at high frequencies (12.5–35 Hz) for the area of the Bureya hydroelectric power station during the travelling of seismic waves from weak earthquakes. A longer attenuation of the power spectral density of seismic waves at high frequencies is noted, and this may occur due to resonant excitation of the medium and the influence of the dam on the geological medium. On the contrary, this effect was not observed at the second site located near Lake Udyl. It is shown that the increase in power can be attributed to the interaction between seismic waves and spatial inhomogeneities in the Earth’s crust.     

Present-day stress tensors along the southern Caribbean plate boundary zone from inversion of focal mechanism solutions: A successful trial

This paper presents a compilation of 16 present-day stress tensors along the southern Caribbean plate boundary zone (PBZ), and particularly in western and along northern Venezuela. As a trial, these new stress tensors along PBZ have been calculated from inversion of 125 focal mechanism solutions (FMS) by applying the Angelier & Mechler's dihedral method, which were originally gathered by the first author and published in 2005. These new tensors are compared to those 59 tensors inverted from fault-slip data measured only in Plio-Quaternary sedimentary rocks, compiled in Audemard et al. (2005), which were originally calculated by several researchers through the inversion methods developed by Angelier and Mechler or Etchecopar et al.The two sets of stress tensors, one derived from geological data and the other one from seismological data, compare very well throughout the PBZ in terms of both stress orientation and shape of the stress tensor. This region is characterized by a compressive strike-slip (transpressional senso lato), occasionally compressional, regime from the southern Mérida Andes on the southwest to the gulf of Paria in the east. Significant changes in direction of the maximum horizontal stress (σ_H = σ₁) can be established along it though. The σ₁ direction varies progressively from nearly east-west in the southern Andes (SW Venezuela) to between NW-SE and NNW-SSE in northwestern Venezuela; this direction remaining constant across northern Venezuela, from Colombia to Trinidad. In addition, the σ_V defined by inversion of focal mechanisms or by the shape of the stress ellipsoid derived from the Etchecopar et al.'s method better characterize whether the stress regime is transpressional or compressional, or even very rarely trantensional at local scale.The orientation and space variation of this regional stress field in western Venezuela results from the addition of the two major neighbouring interplate maximum horizontal stress orientations (σ_H): roughly east-west trending stress across the Nazca-South America type-B subduction along the pacific coast of Colombia and NNW-SSE oriented one across the southern Caribbean PBZ. Meanwhile, northern Venezuela, although dextral strike-slip (SS) is the dominant process, NW-SE to NNW-SSE compression is also taking place, which are both also supported by recent GPS results.