On the Perceptibility of Earthquakes |
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Authors: | R M W Musson |
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Institution: | (1) British Geological Survey, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3LA, UK |
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Abstract: | A method is presented to derive a first order approximation of the number of people likely to feel any earthquake, assuming a uniform population distribution. The “most perceptible” earthquake is a function of the frequency of earthquake occurrence (there are more small earthquakes) and effect (large ones will be felt by more people). The method is demonstrated taking the UK as a test case. The trade-off between the two trends seems to produce a peak value of about 4.5 ML for the earthquake that the typical inhabitant of the UK is most likely to have felt. It is also found that a UK citizen who lives for 70 years has a roughly 42% chance of experiencing a British earthquake at some point in their life. In practice, of course, the issue is complicated both by irregular population distribution and to some extent regional irregularities in the magnitude-frequency distribution for the UK. The method is easily adaptable to other countries; its relevance is chiefly in the generation of statistics of interest to the public at large, thus aiding public understanding of science. |
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Keywords: | earthquake intensity perceptibility disaggregation felt area magnitude public understanding of science |
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