| Abstract: | Occurrence of intraplate seismicity has been attributed to several causes. The perturbation in the local stress regime, either due to local strength weakening of rock mass or surface and subsurface loading, is considered as a plausible mechanism of intraplate earthquake occurrences. The present work is aimed at analysing the state of stress in a part of south Indian shield induced by existing topography and undulations in the subsurface interfaces. The stresses are computed along a section of well studied Kavali-Udipi profile. The general nature of the stresses is compressive in the upper lithosphere except for a small region of extensional regime at both the ends of the profile. The magnitude of these stresses in comparison to the plate tectonic stresses shows that it also forms a significant component of the prevailing stresses in the region. The computed results also show a lateral variation in the stresses along the profile section. Thus, the role of stresses due to density heterogeneities and topography should be taken into consideration in explaining the microseismicity of the region. |
