Preliminary Assessment of the Seismic Hazard for the District of Pathankot (Punjab), India

Short Paper

Sandeep Sharma

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, ACET, Amritsar, India

Email: sndpshrm63@gmail.com

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7284723

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ABSTRACT

A preliminary assessment of earthquake hazards for the district of Pathankot (Punjab) has been carried out. The study area has already experienced strong ground motions of intensity VII in the past during the 1905 Kangra earthquake. The epicenter of the 1905 Kangra earthquake was only 60 km away from the study area. Hence, the proximity of the study area to the northwestern Himalayas makes it susceptible to damage due to large earthquakes in the future. Therefore, deterministic seismic hazard analysis (DSHA) has been carried out for the district. For this purpose, earthquake data has been collected from various seismological agencies e.g. NDMA, IMD, ISC-UK, and USGS, and a comprehensive earthquake catalog has been prepared. Several ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) have been reviewed and analyzed to select a GMPE appropriate for carrying out DSHA. Earthquake hazard parameters have been formulated in terms of peak ground accelerations (PGA). Based on the results, a seismic hazard map for the district has been prepared. The study shows that the region can experience severe strong ground motions originating from northwestern Himalayan earthquakes and hence, structures must be designed based on hazard parameters determined considering the local tectonic setting. The developed hazard map would help engineers and town planners in designing earthquake-resistant structures and retrofitting existing structures.

Keywords: DSHA, Maximum magnitude potential, Peak ground acceleration, Pathankot