Earthquake Hazard Assessment for Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, Including a Characteristic Earthquake Recurrence Model for the Himalaya Frontal Fault (HFF)

• Published in: Pure and applied geophysics Vol. 169; no. 9; pp. 1601 - 1617
• Main Authors: Sharma, M. L., Lindholm, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel SP Birkhäuser Verlag Basel 01.09.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Boundaries; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Earthquakes; Earthquakes, seismology; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Exact sciences and technology; Faults; Geophysics; Geophysics/Geodesy; Hazards; Himalayas; Internal geophysics; Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc; Seismic activity; Seismic engineering; Seismic hazard; Seismic phenomena; Thrust; Main Boundary Thrust; Asia; Himalayas; India; Himalaya Mountains; seismic hazard; Himalayan frontal fault; PSHA; Himalayas; Dehradun; models; earthquakes; faults
• ISSN: 0033-4553; 1420-9136
• DOI: 10.1007/s00024-011-0427-7

The seismic hazard has been computed for the city of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. The city lies in the Himalayan foothills between two faults: the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and the Himalayan Frontal Fault (HFF). The contributions from these two faults have been modelled differently in a probabilistic model. While the MBT has been modelled with a Poissonian earthquake distribution, the HFF has been modelled both with a characteristic earthquake recurrence model and a Poissonian model. The hazard scenarios reveal different patterns depending on the classical approaches and the characteristic models applied, and the obtained results indicate that Dehradun may experience PGA shaking around 2.2 m/s 2 for 225 years return period and around 4.6 m/s 2 for a 2,500 years return period.