Abstract Database

SIMULATION OF STRONG GROUND MOTION FOR NORTH-EASTERN REGION OF INDIA

MEE16702
Babita SHARMA
Supervisor: Hiroe MIYAKE
Country: India
Abstract
Earthquakes are the fatal and most unpredictable among all the natural disasters. Geographical areas which have experienced great earthquakes in the past are most probable candidates for the future major/great earthquakes. Seismically active regions should be considered for seismic hazard assessment in a deterministic way for worst case scenario earthquakes. Therefore, in this study, the north-eastern region of India has been chosen as the setting for simulations of strong ground motion for a hypothetical major earthquake (Mw 7.0) using the empirical Green’s function method. Recordings of the 2009 Bhutan earthquake (Mw 5.1 and 6.1) are considered as empirical Green’s functions with a characterized source model with asperities. Source scaling for the validation of the technique was accomplished by simulation of the Mw 6.1 event using recordings of the Mw 5.1 earthquake with the fault extended to Mw 7.0. As a result, it was observed that cities in the north-eastern region of India will exhibit peak ground acceleration (PGA) for a maximum of 121 gals in the case of a major earthquake of Mw 7.0. Sites located near the rupture initiation point/scenarios can expect higher level accelerations. For validation, estimates of the PGA for the Mw 7.0 simulation were compared with predictive ground motion equations for the Himalayan region with comparable PGA estimates. The obtained PGA values have provided an idea about the level of accelerations experienced in the area for a hypothetical, and probable, future Mw 7.0 earthquake. With the data of ground motions and PGA values obtained in the present analysis, future construction in the area can be regulated and built environments strengthened accordingly.

 

Keywords: Simulation, Peak Ground Acceleration, Strong Motion Generation Area, Background Area