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A note on the strong ground motion recorded during the Mw 6.8 earthquake in Myanmar on 24 March 2011

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate a Mw 6.8 earthquake that occurred in Myanmar on 24 March 2011. The epicenter of this earthquake struck very close to the Tarlay town which is located near the border of Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), and Thailand. In addition, this shallow left-lateral strike-slip earthquake occurred on Nam Ma fault which is previously identified as an active fault. Based on instrumental earthquake catalogue, Nam Ma fault did not produce any earthquake greater than magnitude 6 for at least 100 years. So the 24 March 2011 earthquake is essentially filling the gap of relatively short instrumental earthquake catalogue in this region. The strong ground motion from this event has been recorded in Thailand with the highest peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.20 g at 28 km distance at Mae Sai town. Comparison between observed strong motion and global empirical equation had been provided. Over the distance range for which the model is applicable, they are in fair agreement. On the other hand, at long distance, the large positive and negative residuals suggest that a change in slope in the attenuation is not reflected in these relations. Lastly a seismological aspect of strong ground motion at Mae Sai had been given.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), Pathumthani, Thailand

    Teraphan Ornthammarath

  2. Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand

    Teraphan Ornthammarath

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  1. Teraphan Ornthammarath
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Correspondence to Teraphan Ornthammarath.

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Ornthammarath, T. A note on the strong ground motion recorded during the Mw 6.8 earthquake in Myanmar on 24 March 2011. Bull Earthquake Eng 11, 241–254 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-012-9385-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-012-9385-4

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