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Modelling of strong motion generation areas for a great earthquake in central seismic gap region of Himalayas using the modified semi-empirical approach

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Abstract

Over the past decades, strong motion generation areas (SMGAs) have received significant attention in the modelling of high-frequency records. Herein, we propose the source model for a scenario earthquake (\(M_{\mathrm{w}}\) 8.5) in the central seismic gap region of Himalayas. On the rupture plane, three SMGAs have been identified. Further, SMGA parameters are evaluated using available empirical relations. The spatiotemporal distribution of aftershocks is utilised to locate these SMGAs on the rupture plane. Further, the modified semi-empirical technique (MSET) is used to simulate the strong motion records. It has been observed that the study area can expect peak ground acceleration of \({>}\hbox {100 cm/s}^{2}\) and its distribution is mainly affected by the location of nucleation point in the rupture plane. Furthermore, the estimated peak ground acceleration (PGA) values are comparable with the earlier studies in the region. This confirms the robustness of generated rupture model with three SMGAs and the reliability of MSET to simulate high-frequency records.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr Preeti for her valuable efforts to improve the quality of the paper. The authors sincerely acknowledge the editorial board and two anonymous reviewers for their critical review and constructive suggestions. The authors sincerely thank Kayal et al. (1995), USGS (https://www.usgs.gov/), CMT Harvard (http://www.globalcmt.org/), Ministry of Earth Sciences (project reference no. MoES/P.O.(Seismo)/1(42)/2009) for using earthquake data. This work is an outcome of project reference no. ECR/2016/000737 supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board, DST, India. We gratefully acknowledge the Department of Geophysics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, for providing basic facilities for this research work. The author AS is highly thankful to Prof N P Singh for his valuable suggestions to improve the quality of research work. The author PK sincerely acknowledges the Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geophysics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Sandeep & S K Sah

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    A Joshi, Sohan Lal &  Kamal

  3. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India

    Parveen Kumar

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  1. Sandeep
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  2. A Joshi
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  3. S K Sah
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  4. Parveen Kumar
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  5. Sohan Lal
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  6. Kamal
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Correspondence to Parveen Kumar.

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Corresponding editor: Arkoprovo Biswas

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Sandeep, Joshi, A., Sah, S.K. et al. Modelling of strong motion generation areas for a great earthquake in central seismic gap region of Himalayas using the modified semi-empirical approach. J Earth Syst Sci 128, 100 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1126-5

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