Modeling of the strong ground motion of 25th April 2015 Nepal earthquake using modified semi-empirical technique

On 25th April, 2015 a hazardous earthquake of moment magnitude 7.9 occurred in Nepal. Accelerographs were used to record the Nepal earthquake which is installed in the Kumaon region in the Himalayan state of Uttrakhand. The distance of the recorded stations in the Kumaon region from the epicenter of the earthquake is about 420–515 km. Modified semi-empirical technique of modeling finite faults has been used in this paper to simulate strong earthquake at these stations. Source parameters of the Nepal aftershock have been also calculated using the Brune model in the present study which are used in the modeling of the Nepal main shock. The obtained value of the seismic moment and stress drop is 8.26 × 10²⁵ dyn cm and 10.48 bar, respectively, for the aftershock from the Brune model .The simulated earthquake time series were compared with the observed records of the earthquake. The comparison of full waveform and its response spectra has been made to finalize the rupture parameters and its location. The rupture of the earthquake was propagated in the NE–SW direction from the hypocenter with the rupture velocity 3.0 km/s from a distance of 80 km from Kathmandu in NW direction at a depth of 12 km as per compared results.     

Government of India Policy of Fixing Minimum Support Price for Agriculture Products in relation to Water Resources of Peninsular India

85% of water resources is used in agriculture. Price of water is not taken into account while declaring the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for different crops by Government of India (GoI). Origin of water, depletion of groundwater table and its effect on sea level changes and climate are discussed with reference to geomorphology of Sahyadri hill range, where both east and west flowing rivers of peninsular India take their origin. New price based on incentive to be given to farmers who take up growing crops using less water compared to rice and sugarcane is suggested.     

Grain surface features of alluvial sediments of upper Pravara Basin and their environmental implications

Quartz sand grains obtained from a deeply gullied topography along the banks of two tributaries of River Pravara in Godavari Basin, Maharashtra have been examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to make the environmental interpretations of these deposits. The sediments reveal features resulting from mechanical grinding as well as from chemical alteration. Conchoidal fractures, cleavage planes, grooves, v-shaped indentations etc are the mechanical features documented on the grains whereas solution pits of varying sizes and intensity, precipitation surfaces, oriented v-pits, solution crevasses and etching are the features of diagenetic origin. Few sand grains show the evidence of wind transported sediments. Several evidence indicate that the samples have undergone digenetic changes. Few grains exhibit the features of intense chemical breakdown. The overall assemblages of the grain surface features suggest that the samples have been subjected to subaqueous transport for a considerable period of time. The chemical features such as etching, solution pits or semi circular arcuate steps that are found in abundance in these grains are due to the dissolution of the sediments in a low energy fluviatile environment, such as in floodplain region.     

Study and suppression of anomalous fast events in inorganic scintillators for dark matter searches

The status of dark matter searches with inorganic scintillator detectors at Boulby mine is reviewed and the results of tests with a CsI(Tl) crystal are presented. The objectives of the latter experiment were to study anomalous fast events previously observed and to identify ways to remove this background. Clear indications were found that these events were due to surface contamination of crystals by alphas, probably from radon decay. A new array of unencapsulated NaI(Tl) crystals immersed either in liquid paraffin or pure nitrogen atmosphere is under construction at Boulby. Such an approach allows complete control of the surface of the crystals and the ability to remove any surface contamination. First data from the unencapsulated NaI(Tl) do not show the presence of anomalous fast events.     

Determination of Q β(f) in Different Parts of Kumaon Himalaya from the Inversion of Spectral Acceleration Data

This paper presents the results of a modified two-step inversion algorithm approach to find S wave quality factor Q _β(f) given by Joshi (Bull Seis Soc Am 96:2165–2180, 2006). Seismic moment is calculated from the source displacement spectra of the S wave using both horizontal components. Average value of seismic moment computed from two horizontal components recorded at several stations is used as an input to the first part of inversion together with the spectra of S phase in the acceleration record. Several values of the corner frequency have been selected iteratively and are used as inputs to the inversion algorithm. Solution corresponding to minimum root mean square error (RMSE) is used for obtaining the final estimate of Q _β(f) relation. The estimates of seismic moment, corner frequency and Q _β(f) from the first part of inversion are further used for obtaining the residual of theoretical and observed source spectra which are treated as site amplification terms. The acceleration record corrected for the site amplification term is used for determination of seismic moment from source spectra by using Q _β(f) obtained from first part of inversion. Corrected acceleration record and new estimate of seismic moment are used as inputs to the second part of the inversion scheme which is similar to the first part except for use of input data. The final outcome from this part of inversion is a new Q _β(f) relation together with known values of seismic moment and corner frequency of each input. The process of two-step inversion is repeated for this new estimate of seismic moment and goes on until minimum RMSE is obtained which gives final estimate of Q _β(f) at each station and corner frequency of input events. The Pithoragarh district in the state of Uttarakhand in India lies in the border region of India and Nepal and is part of the seismically active Kumaon Himalaya zone. A network of eight strong motion recorders has been installed in this region since March, 2006. In this study we have analyzed data from 18 local events recorded between March, 2006 and October, 2010 at various stations. These events have been located using HYPO71 and data has been used to obtain frequency-dependent shear-wave attenuation. The Q _β(f) at each station is calculated by using both the north-south (NS) and east-west (EW) components of acceleration records as inputs to the developed inversion algorithm. The average Q _β(f) values obtained from Q _β(f) values at different stations from both NS and EW components have been used to compute a regional average relationship for the Pithoragarh region of Kumaon Himalaya of form Q _β(f)?=?(29?±?1.2)f ^{(1.1 ± 0.06)}.     

Predicting strong motion parameters for the Chamoli earthquake of 28th March, 1999, Garhwal Himalaya, India, from simplified finite fault model

State of Uttaranchal in the northern part of India in the Garhwal Himalaya was hit by the Chamoli earthquake on 28th March, 1999 (GMT). This earthquake was recorded on a strong motion array installed in this region. The maximum peak ground acceleration of 353 cm/sec² was recorded at an accelerograph located at the Gopeshwar station at an approximate epicentral distance of 14 km. The simplified method of Midorikawa (1993) has been used to model finite fault responsible for causing the Chamoli earthquake. This method is based on the Empirical Green's Function (EGF) technique of Irikura (1986).Modifications in this method have been made to include layered earth model and transmission effects at each boundary by Joshi (2001). Rupture causing the Chamoli earthquake is placed in two structural models of the earth in this work: one is a homogeneous half space and other is the multi layered earth model. Comparison in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) is made between the simulated and actual strong motion parameters like peak acceleration and duration. It is seen that the introduction of multi layered earth system in this simplified technique is capable of significantly reducing the RMSE in observed and predicted strong motion parameters and defining the attenuation rate for peak ground acceleration of this earthquake.     

Application of Hidden Markov Model for avalanche danger simulations for road sectors in North-West Himalaya

Seismic hazard assessment is the key tool for rational planning, safety and design of infrastructures in seismically vulnerable regions. Gujarat is the only state in peninsular India with the maximum seismic hazard of large shallow earthquakes originating from intra-plate seismicity. Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) of Gujarat is carried out in this paper. Three seismogenic sources, namely Kutch, Saurashtra and Mainland Gujarat, are considered, and seismicity parameters are estimated separately for each region taking into account the completeness of the available earthquake data. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the horizontal component and spectral acceleration at specific periods are considered as the intensity measures. Ground motion predictive equation chosen was reported to be based on simulated ground motions and verified against the strong motion records in the study region. Results are reported for the 17 major cities at the bedrock and also for the soil sites. Apart from hazard curves, 2475 and 475 years of return periods are considered for the PGA and uniform hazard spectra (UHS). The results are compared with the present recommendations of Indian Standards. Key observations include (1) Indian Standards underpredict PGA in the entire Gujarat when the soil sites are considered and in a few cities even at the bedrock; (2) amplification of PGA (or short period hazard) on account of soil sites should be included in the Indian Standard, which is currently absent; (3) shape of the UHS indicates that a separate amplification is required at the hyperbolic portion; and (4) ratio of 2475–475 years of PGA, which is considered 2.0 in Indian Standard, should be reduced to 1.5. Time-dependent recurrence model is also included in this paper and compared with conventional PSHA. General observations include that (1) hazard may increase significantly on account of time dependency; (2) this also influences the disaggregation and in turn the selection of ground motions; and (3) time since last earthquake significantly influences the extent of the effect of time dependency.     

Molecules in white dwarfs

Molecular dissociation equilibrium calculations were done for the model atmospheres of DA and non-DA white dwarfs. Our calculations show that He ₂ ⁺ and HeH⁺ appear as most abundant molecules in the atmospheres of non-DA white dwarfs while H₂ and H ₂ ⁺ are most abundant molecules in DA white dwarfs. It is suggested that these molecules should be searched for in the atmospheres of white dwarfs.