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Twentieth century seismicity of the Koffiefontein region (Free State, South Africa): consistent determination of earthquake catalogue parameters from mixed data types

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Abstract

The preparation of earthquake catalogues for seismic hazard analysis requires the use of uniform parameters, in particular for magnitudes, although the original data include a variety of formats, such as macroseismic intensities and various instrumental magnitude scales. In regions of low seismicity, such as South Africa, data are generally sparse and not always sufficient to develop locally calibrated conversion relations. They can nevertheless be used to test the applicability of imported conversion relations, as well as their consistency. The Koffiefontein region of South Africa provides a good test case in view of its somewhat higher level of seismicity, and central geographic location within the country. This paper reviews determinations of location and magnitude parameters for a suite of moderate-to-large earthquakes that have occurred in this region between 1903 and 1985.

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Acknowledgments

The work presented in this paper was conducted as a part of the PSHA project for the Thyspunt site conducted by the Council for Geoscience under contract from Eskom, the South African state-owned energy utility. The authors would particularly like to thank Erna Hattingh, Project Manager from the CGS Nuclear Geo-hazard Group and André P. Nel from Eskom Nuclear Sites for their support for the work and their appreciation of the value of extending the earthquake record for this region of South Africa. Sincere thanks are also due to the project PTI, Julian Bommer, and the SSC TI Lead, Kevin Coppersmith, for their continued guidance and support. The work presented herein greatly benefited from lively discussions with, and thoughtful comments from, various participants of the Thyspunt PSHA project and CGS colleagues.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seismology Unit, Council for Geoscience, Pretoria, South Africa

    F. O. Strasser

  2. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Milano, Italy

    P. Albini

  3. Seismology Unit, Council for Geoscience, Western Cape, South Africa

    N. S. Flint

  4. ISTerre, Univ. Grenoble Alpes-CNRS-IRD, Grenoble, France

    C. Beauval

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  1. F. O. Strasser
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  2. P. Albini
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  3. N. S. Flint
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  4. C. Beauval
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Correspondence to P. Albini.

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Strasser, F.O., Albini, P., Flint, N.S. et al. Twentieth century seismicity of the Koffiefontein region (Free State, South Africa): consistent determination of earthquake catalogue parameters from mixed data types. J Seismol 19, 915–934 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-015-9503-2

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