Seismic Site Classification of Recording Stations in Tarai Region of Uttarakhand,from Multiple Approaches

Repeated earthquakes (EQs) are clear indication of alarming seismicity which can be witnessed across Indian subcontinent. Increase in population density with inappropriate construction practice repeatedly rise alarm that in comparison to damage scenarios experienced during previous major to great EQs in India, future catastrophes would be manifold. Performing regional seismic hazard as well as site response studies can possibly help in accurate estimation of probable future seismic scenario. Site class (SC) of EQ recording stations is an important part of both seismic hazard as well as site response analyses. In seismic hazard analysis, suitable attenuation relations are often selected based on comparison of recorded ground motion with proposed ground motion as per selected attenuation relation for the same SC. Thus, unless SC of recorded ground motions is known, suitability of selected attenuation relation cannot be validated. In addition, recent studies suggest that for same soil column, ground motion may amplify at the surface from minimal to very high depending upon input motion characteristics. Thus again, unless SC of recording station is not known, recorded ground motion cannot be considered with confidence as outcrop or base motion for region specific site response studies. In the present work, SC of eight recording stations located in Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India located adjacent to the Himalayan belt and which are part of PESMOS database, are established by three different methods namely; equivalent linear ground response analysis, generalized inversion technique and horizontal to vertical spectral ratio method. Collectively all these three methods suggest same SC for each of the eight recording stations including Roorkee, Rishikesh, Dehradun etc. Further, obtained SC based on the present study is considerably different from available SC as per PESMOS database. However, present findings are matching with recent published work. Obtained results can be very helpful in developing surface seismic hazard using regional ground motion records towards minimizing future EQ induced damages.     

Earthquake hazard zonation of Sikkim Himalaya using a GIS platform

An earthquake hazard zonation map of Sikkim Himalaya is prepared using eight thematic layers namely Geology (GE), Soil Site Class (SO), Slope (SL), Landslide (LS), Rock Outcrop (RO), Frequency–Wavenumber (F–K) simulated Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), Predominant Frequency (PF), and Site Response (SR) at predominant frequencies using Geographic Information System (GIS). This necessitates a large scale seismicity analysis for seismic source zone classification and estimation of maximum earthquake magnitude or maximum credible earthquake to be used as a scenario earthquake for a deterministic or quasi-probabilistic seismic scenario generation. The International Seismological Center (ISC) and Global Centroid Moment Tensor (GCMT) catalogues have been used in the present analysis. Combining b-value, fractal correlation dimension (Dc) of the epicenters and the underlying tectonic framework, four seismic source zones are classified in the northeast Indian region. Maximum Earthquake of M _W 8.3 is estimated for the Eastern Himalayan Zone (EHZ) and is used to generate the seismic scenario of the region. The Geohazard map is obtained through the integration of the geological and geomorphological themes namely GE, SO, SL, LS, and RO following a pair-wise comparison in an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Detail analysis of SR at all the recording stations by receiver function technique is performed using 80 significant events recorded by the Sikkim Strong Motion Array (SSMA). The ground motion synthesis is performed using F–K integration and the corresponding PGA has been estimated using random vibration theory (RVT). Testing for earthquakes of magnitude greater than M _W 5, a few cases presented here, establishes the efficacy and robustness of the F–K simulation algorithm. The geohazard coverage is overlaid and sequentially integrated with PGA, PF, and SR vector layers, in order to evolve the ultimate earthquake hazard microzonation coverage of the territory. Earthquake Hazard Index (EHI) quantitatively classifies the terrain into six hazard levels, while five classes could be identified following the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) PGA nomenclature for the seismic zonation of India. EHI is found to vary between 0.15 to 0.83 quantitatively classifying the terrain into six hazard levels as “Low” corresponding to BIS Zone II, “Moderate” corresponding to BIS Zone III, “Moderately High” belonging to BIS Zone IV, “High” corresponding to BIS Zone V(A), “Very High” and “Severe” with new BIS zones to Zone V(B) and V(C) respectively.     

Geo-spatial analysis of temporal trends of temperature and its extremes over India using daily gridded (1°×1°) temperature data of 1969–2005

Daily gridded (1°×1°) temperature data (1969–2005) were used to detect spatial patterns of temporal trends of maximum and minimum temperature (monthly and seasonal), growing degree days (GDDs) over the crop-growing season (kharif, rabi, and zaid) and annual frequencies of temperature extremes over India. The direction and magnitude of trends, at each grid level, were estimated using the Mann–Kendall statistics (α = 0.05) and further assessed at the homogeneous temperature regions using a field significance test (α=0.05). General warming trends were observed over India with considerable variations in direction and magnitude over space and time. The spatial extent and the magnitude of the increasing trends of minimum temperature (0.02–0.04 °C year^?1) were found to be higher than that of maximum temperature (0.01–0.02 °C year^?1) during winter and pre-monsoon seasons. Significant negative trends of minimum temperature were found over eastern India during the monsoon months. Such trends were also observed for the maximum temperature over northern and eastern parts, particularly in the winter month of January. The general warming patterns also changed the thermal environment of the crop-growing season causing significant increase in GDDs during kharif and rabi seasons across India. The warming climate has also caused significant increase in occurrences of hot extremes such as hot days and hot nights, and significant decrease in cold extremes such as cold days and cold nights.     

Seismic source characterization for the Shillong Plateau in Northeast India

The present study aims at understanding the seismotectonic province of the Shillong Plateau (SP) by identifying the potential seismic source zones within a radius of 500 km from the centre of the SP. From existing literature and earthquake (EQ) data, the seismotectonic region is found to vary in terms of seismicity, tectonic features, geology, thickness of overburden, rupture characteristics and rate of movement. Thus, entire 500-km-radius seismotectonic region is divided into four seismic source zones: namely (1) the Shillong Plateau–Assam Valley Zone (SP-AVZ), (2) the Indo-Burma Ranges Zone (IBRZ), (3) the Bengal Basin Zone (BBZ) and (4) the Eastern Himalaya Zone (EHZ). EQ catalogues for each source zone is analysed for completeness of magnitude and time. Seismic parameter b estimated using a maximum likelihood method is found to be 0.91 ± 0.03, 0.94 ± 0.02, 0.80 ± 0.03 and 0.89 ± 0.03 for the SP-AVZ, IBRZ, BBZ and EHZ, respectively. In addition, the maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the mean annual activity rate, maximum possible magnitude (m _max), return period and probability of exceedance for the four zones. The b values estimated suggest that the BBZ is seismically more active; however, the rate of occurrence of EQs is highest in the IBRZ. Findings from this study are an indication of the relative contribution from each of the four seismic source zones towards a seismic hazard of the SP.     

Recent seismicity in Northeast India and its adjoining region

Recent seismicity in the northeast India and its adjoining region exhibits different earthquake mechanisms – predominantly thrust faulting on the eastern boundary, normal faulting in the upper Himalaya, and strike slip in the remaining areas. A homogenized catalogue in moment magnitude, M _W, covering a period from 1906 to 2006 is derived from International Seismological Center (ISC) catalogue, and Global Centroid Moment Tensor (GCMT) database. Owing to significant and stable earthquake recordings as seen from 1964 onwards, the seismicity in the region is analyzed for the period with spatial distribution of magnitude of completeness m _t, b value, a value, and correlation fractal dimension D _C. The estimated value of m _t is found to vary between 4.0 and 4.8. The a value is seen to vary from 4.47 to 8.59 while b value ranges from 0.61 to 1.36. Thrust zones are seen to exhibit predominantly lower b value distribution while strike-slip and normal faulting regimes are associated with moderate to higher b value distribution. D _C is found to vary from 0.70 to 1.66. Although the correlation between spatial distribution of b value and D _C is seen predominantly negative, positive correlations can also be observed in some parts of this territory. A major observation is the strikingly negative correlation with low b value in the eastern boundary thrust region implying a possible case of extending asperity. Incidentally, application of box counting method on fault segments of the study region indicates comparatively higher fractal dimension, D, suggesting an inclination towards a planar geometrical coverage in the 2D spatial extent. Finally, four broad seismic source zones are demarcated based on the estimated spatial seismicity patterns in collaboration with the underlying active fault networks. The present work appraises the seismicity scenario in fulfillment of a basic groundwork for seismic hazard assessment in this earthquake province of the country.     

Probabilistic assessment of earthquake hazard in the Andaman–Nicobar–Sumatra region

Natural Hazards - The Andaman–Nicobar–Sumatra (ANS) region is a very hazardous area on the globe, which has witnessed a megathrust earthquake of Mw 9.2 on 26 December 2004 and several...     

Mapping the Extent of Agroforestry Area in Different Altitudes of Tehri District,North Western Himalaya,India Through GIS and Remote Sensing Data

Assessment of area under agroforestry in Tehri district of North Western Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India has been done using GIS and remote sensing technology. The study district characterized by hilly terrain with varying elevations from 288 m to more than 2800 m and generally gentle slopes, valleys, flat land covers and agricultural terraces. High-resolution satellite imageries (spatial resolution 5.8 m) were used in this study for land uses and land covers classification. According to unsupervised classification, highest area was found under forest class (65.22%) followed by cropland (20.41%). Considerable area was also found under snow cover (9.45%) in the district. Area under agroforestry was estimated to be 5572.26 ha (1.53%) by this method, whereas it was estimated to be 7029.06 ha (1.93%) by supervised classification. Estimated cropland area comes out to be about 20.0%. An accuracy of 86.5% was found in this classification for agroforestry class. Highest area under agroforestry of 3707.36 ha was obtained in 1200–2000 m elevations followed by 2231.26 ha in 288–1200 m elevations. Negligible area was found on high elevation zones of more than 2800 m. The major agroforestry systems of dominated by Grewia oppositifolia (Bhimal), Celtis australis (Kharik) and Quercus leucotrichophora (Banj) were identified and mapped and remaining systems were grouped as others class. Estimated area under G. oppositifolia, C. australis and Q. leucotrichophora based systems come out to be 2330.82, 1456.80 and 1129.10 ha, respectively. These systems are multiple usufructs are food, fuelwood, fodder, fiber and small timber. It has been observed from the accuracy assessment that the estimates of area under agroforestry obtained under this study are reliable.     

Hazardous area map: an approach of sustainable urban planning and industrial development—a review

Natural Hazards - A hazard map is a map which shows about all the vulnerable regions present in any country or at any specific place or location which is affected or will be affected by natural...