Abstract
A reliable and homogenized earthquake catalogue is essential for seismic hazard assessment in any area. This article describes the compilation and processing of an updated earthquake catalogue for Pakistan. The earthquake catalogue compiled in this study for the region (quadrangle bounded by the geographical limits 40–83° N and 20–40° E) includes 36,563 earthquake events, which are reported as 4.0–8.3 moment magnitude (MW) and span from 25 AD to 2016. Relationships are developed between the moment magnitude and body, and surface wave magnitude scales to unify the catalogue in terms of magnitude MW. The catalogue includes earthquakes from Pakistan and neighbouring countries to minimize the effects of geopolitical boundaries in seismic hazard assessment studies. Earthquakes reported by local and international agencies as well as individual catalogues are included. The proposed catalogue is further used to obtain magnitude of completeness after removal of dependent events by using four different algorithms. Finally, seismicity parameters of the seismic sources are reported, and recommendations are made for seismic hazard assessment studies in Pakistan.
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Acknowledgments
This study was carried out at the National Centre of Excellence in Geology (NCEG), University of Peshawar. Overall support of the centre is gratefully acknowledged. Besides that, comments and recommendations of the anonymous reviewer, which enhanced the quality of the article are greatly acknowedged.
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Appendix. Description of some large earthquakes
Appendix. Description of some large earthquakes
1.1 Prehistorical earthquakes
25 AD, Taxila earthquake
An earthquake of Modified Mercalli Intensity IX (Khan and Khan 2016) occurred at Taxila, 25 km west-northwest of Islamabad, which destroyed Buddhist monasteries.
June 819, Afghanistan earthquake (M = 7.4)
This earthquake destroyed Balk City and the Masjid-i Jami (Ambraseys and Bilham 2009).
893/894, Debal earthquake (M = 7.5)
Earthquake of Richter magnitude 7.5 occurred between 13 March 893 AD and 14 December 894 AD, causing massive damage (150,000 deaths) to the town of Debal (lower Sindh) (Gates and Ritchie 2006).
6 July 1505, Paghman, Afghanistan, earthquake
This earthquake struck in Paghman with an intensity of IX to X (MM). It ruptured the northern portion of the Chaman fault (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
2 May 1668, Shah Bundar earthquake
An event of magnitude 7.0 to 7.6 occurred near the Shah Bundar area of lower Sindh on 2 May 1668 (Pervaiz et al. 2002). No destruction/damage records were found in the Thatha historical records. The epicentre was someplace west of the Kuch Rift. Only Shah Bundar was affected by shockwaves, and permanent ground displacement occurred.
May 1688, near Shah Bundar
This event is not registered in detail, but it is said that it has occurred in the same area where the 2 May 1668 event of magnitude 7.0 to 7.6 was felt.
16 June 1819, Rann of Kutch (Allah Bund), India, earthquake
An earthquake of magnitude 7 to 7.8 and intensity IX to X+ (MM) occurred approximately 50 km northeast of the town of Bhuj (Pervaiz et al. 2002). A high fault scarp known as Allah Bund, which trends east-west, dammed Shatadro stream (Oldham 1926).
26 September 1827, near Lahore
This earthquake is listed in few catalogues, and its epicentre was at 31.60° N, 74.30° E. A total loss of life of at least 1000 was recorded in Lahore and other parts of Punjab (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
22 January 1832, Badakhshan earthquake
This was a great earthquake (epicentral intensity = IX; mb = 7.4) and apparently killed thousands of people and ruined a most of the villages in the district.
19 February 1842, Alingar Valley, Afghanistan, earthquake
This earthquake (MS 7.5) severely affected the Alingar River Valley and the Jalalabad Basin in Afghanistan, killing hundreds of people (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979). Contemporary narratives indicate that a rupture proceeded from north-northeast to south-southwest along a portion of the Gardez fault, which is situated in the Alingar River Valley.
October 1874 (M S ≈ 7.0)
This earthquake occurred near the northern boundary of the Paghman fault. The north Kabul region was greatly affected during this earthquake (Ambraseys and Bilham 2009). In the vicinity of Jabal Saraj, the surface opened up, which was likely due to liquefaction.
1883, Jhalawan (Pakistan) earthquake
The epicentre of this earthquake was at Jhalawan with a magnitude of 8.0.
20 December 1892, Chaman earthquake (MM = XIII to IX)
The event occurred 90 km northwest of Quetta near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979). During this earthquake, left lateral strike-slip movement of at least 75 cm occurred on the Chaman fault near the town of Sanzal.
1.2 Historical earthquakes
4 April 1905, Kangra, India, earthquake
A magnitude of 8 (MS) was determined for this event (Geller and Kanamori 1977; Gutenberg and Richter 1954) with a maximum intensity of X+ (MM). This earthquake killed 19,000 people and caused heavy damage to towns along the foothills of the Himalayas between Kangra and Dehra Dun.
24 October 1906, Afghanistan earthquake
This was a widely felt earthquake (M 7.1) with an epicentre on the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan (Ambraseys and Bilham 2009). The earthquake waves were felt as low intensities within a radius of approximately 380 km and only felt strongly at Aivadz and Termez.
21 October 1909, Kachhi Plain (between Loralai and Sibi), Pakistan, earthquake
This earthquake reached a maximum intensity of VIII to IX (MM) in a zone that extended southeastward from north of Bagh to southeast of Shahpur. Numerous small villages were destroyed, and more than 100 lives were lost (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
7 July 1909 (≈ 7.5)
This earthquake was globally documented and may have contained two events: one shallow and the other deep (1 min apart).
1 February 1929, between Buner and Hazara, Pakistan
This earthquake occurred north of Abbottabad (MM 8.0) around a local time of 10:45 pm (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
24 August 1931, Sharigh, Pakistan, earthquake
This was a very shallow focused earthquake. The epicentre of this earthquake is located at 30.38° N, 67.68° E, approximately 75 km east-northeast of Quetta, and an MS 7.0 (Gutenberg and Richter 1954) and intensity of 8.0 (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979) were given to this earthquake.
27 August 1931, Mach, Pakistan, earthquake
The epicentre of the Mach earthquake is located at 29.91° N, 67.25° E near the town of Mach and approximately 50 km southeast of Quetta (Ambraseys and Bilham 2003a). This was the second earthquake over the course of 2 days with an MS of 7.4 (Gutenberg and Richter 1954) that affected the same region. It was more devastating than the 25 August 1931 earthquake, which was felt in most of Baluchistan and Sindh (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
30 May 1935, Quetta, Pakistan, earthquake
The epicentre of this magnitude MS 7.5 (Gutenberg and Richter 1954) earthquake is located at 28.87° N, 66.40° E. The city of Quetta was ruined, and approximately 30,000 lives were lost (Richter 1958). A maximum intensity of IX to X RF (~IX to X MM) was confined to a narrow, elongated zone trending parallel to the local structure and extending from Quetta to south of Mastung.
21 November 1939, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
This earthquake had a magnitude MS of 6.9 (NOAA) and was felt in much of northern Pakistan, all over northeastern Afghanistan and northern India. An epicentral intensity value of VIII was documented in the Gilgit and Drosh regions (Ambraseys and Bilham 2009).
27 November 1945, Makran Coast, Pakistan, earthquake
The epicentre of this event is located at 25.15° N, 63.48° E, which is just off the Makran Coast of Pakistan near the town of Pasni. Geller and Kanamori (1977) found that it was a 20-s earthquake of MS 8.0, which also generated a tsunami along the coast. An intensity of X (MM) reached at Pasni and Ormara (International Seismological Summary 1945). A total life loss of 2000 was noted in neighbouring Iran and southern Pakistan. Damage also occurred at Ormara (Quittmeyer and Jacob 1979).
5 August 1947
Another large event with a surface wave magnitude of 7.3 (Gutenberg and Richter 1954) occurred at nearly the same location as the 1945 event (Ambraseys and Bilham 2003a). Nothing more is known of this second large Makran earthquake.
9 June 1956, Sayghan, Afghanistan, earthquake
A large magnitude earthquake (20 s, MS 7.6) occurred in the Bamyan District, Afghanistan. This event, which caused the deaths of 300 to 400 people (Heuckroth and Karim 1970), has an epicentre at 35.13° N, 67.48° E, near Sayghan, Afghanistan (Ambraseys and Bilham 2009).
1.3 Modern earthquakes
December 1983, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
The shock (MW 7.40, depth 215 km) was felt in much of northwestern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, northern Pakistan and northern India. Fourteen additional deaths occurred in Peshawar, Pakistan.
July 1985, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
The considerable shock (MW 7.4, depth 99 km) was felt in Afghanistan. Some parts of Tajikistan and neighbouring Pakistan also felt this earthquake. A total life loss of five was noted in Swat and Chitral, Pakistan.
9 August 1993, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan (M W 7.0 (NEIC, HRV), 215 km depth)
This event was strongly felt in South and Central Asia, from “Dushanbe, Tajikistan”, to as far south as “Multan, Pakistan”.
27 February 1997, near Harnai, Pakistan
This was the strongest earthquake that occurred in Pakistan for several decades with a moment magnitude of 7.3 (NEIC). A total life loss of 50 was documented during this earthquake in the cities of Sibi, Quetta and Harnai.
26 January 2001, near Bhachau (Gujarat), India (M W 7.6, depth of 22 km)
This was a great earthquake of magnitude (M) 7.6, with an epicentre near Bhachau, India, and was also felt in Bangladesh. The total estimated life loss is 11,500 in Gujarat and 20 in southern Pakistan.
8 October 2005, Kashmir earthquake
This was a devastating earthquake of magnitude (M) 7.6 (NEIC) with an epicentre 19 km northeast of Muzaffarabad that was felt in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and is responsible for a great loss of life and damage to buildings.
28 and 29 October 2008, Ziarat earthquake
The earthquake epicentre is nearly 50 km northeast of the historical 1935 (M 7.6) earthquake location and responsible for a total life loss of 30,000 people.
19 January 2011, Dalbandin earthquake
This earthquake occurred at 01:23 AM local time with a moment magnitude of MW 7.2 and an MMI of VI (strong). The shock occurred in a sparsely populated area of Baluchistan and caused moderate damage, three deaths and some injuries. This earthquake occurred as a result of normal faulting within the lithosphere of the subducted Arabian Plate.
16 April 2013, Saravan earthquake (M W 7.7)
This was a 25-s earthquake that hit in a mountainous area close to the border of Iran and Pakistan.
24 September 2013, Awaran earthquake
This was a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.7 (VII MMI) that occurred as a result of oblique strike-slip motion in southwestern Pakistan. Approximately 825 people were affected.
26 October 2015, Hindu Kush earthquake
This is a recent earthquake (M 7.5) that was felt in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of India. This was a deep earthquake (212.5 km) with an epicentre 45 km north of `Alaqahdari-ye Kiran wa Munjan, Afghanistan.
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Khan, S., Waseem, M., Khan, M.A. et al. Updated earthquake catalogue for seismic hazard analysis in Pakistan. J Seismol 22, 841–861 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-018-9736-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-018-9736-y