Abstract
The present paper analyzes the effect of Himalayan topography on ground motion’s characteristics due to a hypothetical earthquake event of high magnitude. A spectral finite element model is developed to incorporate the Himalayan topography and three-dimensional velocity model for the Himalayan region. The developed model is validated by simulating synthetic ground motions for two past Himalayan earthquakes viz—2005 Chamoli earthquake of magnitude, Mw 5.2, and 2009 Uttarkashi earthquake of Mw 4.7. Two sets of recording stations are placed for both the earthquakes, one at the topographic level and the other at zero-elevation level. For the group of recording stations placed at the topographic level, it is observed that the simulated synthetic ground velocities for the two earthquakes match well with the recorded data. Also, the ground motions are amplified at the topographic level as compared to ground motions at the zero-elevation level. The developed model is further used to simulate synthetic ground motions for a hypothetical earthquake of Mw 8.5. Amplifications in the horizontal and vertical direction for both displacement and velocity are obtained for the hypothetical earthquake event. The study shows that maximum amplification of 1.86 and 1.8 is obtained for horizontal and vertical displacement, respectively. Horizontal and vertical components of velocity show amplification of 3.2 and 3.7, respectively. The velocity amplifications are higher as compared to amplifications observed in displacement. Also, the displacement and velocity amplifications are observed to follow a linearly increasing trend with topography elevation. Regression analysis is carried out to obtain the equations of best fit for both horizontal and vertical displacement and velocity amplification ratios. These equations can be used to obtain amplification in the Himalayan region for a future earthquake of high magnitude.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aki K, Larner KL (1970) Surface motion of a layered medium having an irregular interface due to incident plane SH waves. J Geophys Res 75(5):933–954. https://doi.org/10.1029/jb075i005p00933
Anggraeni D (2010) Modelling the impact of topography on seismic amplification at regional scale. University of Twente Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC)
Bansal BK, Verma M (2013) Science and technology based earthquake risk reduction strategies: The Indian scenario. Acta Geophys 61(4):808–821. https://doi.org/10.2478/s11600-013-0105-5
Bard PY (1982) Diffracted waves and displacement field over two-dimensional elevated topographies. Geophys J Int 71(3):731–760. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.1982.tb02795.x
Bilham R (2009) The seismic future of cities. Bull Earthq Eng 7(4):839–887. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-009-9147-0
Bilham R, Gaur VK, Molnar P (2001) Himalayan seismic hazard. Science 293(5534):1442–1444
Boore DM (1972) A note on the effect of simple topography on seismic SH waves. Bull Seismol Soc Am 62(1):275–284
Boore DM (2003) Simulation of ground motion using the stochastic method. Pure Appl Geophys 160(3):635–676. https://doi.org/10.1007/pl00012553
Bouchon M (1973) Effect of topography on surface motion. Bull Seismol Soc Am 63(2):615–632
Bouchon M (1985) A simple, complete numerical solution to the problem of diffraction of SH waves by an irregular surface. J Acoust Soc Am 77(1):1–5. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.392258
Bouchon M, Barker JS (1996) Seismic response of a hill: the example of Tarzana, California. Bull Seismol Soc Am 86(1A):66–72
Dhabu A, Dhanya J, Raghukanth STG (2018) Effect of topography on earthquake ground motions. In: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering. Springer, Singapore, pp 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0365-4_9
Dhabu AC, Sangeetha S, Raghukanth STG (2019) Characterization of strong motion generation regions of earthquake slip using extreme value theory. Pure Appl Geophys 176:3567–3592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02136-0
Dhanya J, Raghukanth S (2019) A non-Gaussian random field model for earthquake slip. J Seismol 23:889–912. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-019-09840-3
Gade M, Raghukanth STG (2017) Simulation of strong ground motion for a MW 8.5 hypothetical earthquake in central seismic gap region, Himalaya. Bull Earthq Eng 15(10):4039–4065. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-017-0146-2
Gaffet S, Bouchon M (1989) Effects of two-dimensional topographies using the discrete wavenumber-boundary integral equation method in P-SV cases. J Acoust Soc Am 85(6):2277–2283. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.397773
Hartzell S, Meremonte M, Ramirez-Guzman L, McNamara D (2013) Ground motion in the presence of complex topography: earthquake and ambient noise sources. Bull Seismol Soc Am 104(1):451–466. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120130088
Heidbach O, Rajabi M, Cui X, Fuchs K, Müller B, Reinecker J et al (2018) The World Stress Map database release 2016: Crustal stress pattern across scales. Tectonophysics 744:484–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2018.07.007
IS 1893 (2016) Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures.
Jayalakshmi S, Dhanya J, Raghukanth S, Martin Mai P (2019) 3D seismic wave amplification in the Indo-Gangetic Basin from spectral element simulations. Soil Dynam Earthq Eng 129:105923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2019.105923
Kanth STGR, Singh KD, Pallav K (2009) Deterministic seismic scenarios for Imphal City. Pure Appl Geophys 166(4):641–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-009-0460-y
Khan S, van der Meijde M, van der Werff H, Shafique M (2017) Impact of mesh and DEM resolutions in SEM simulation of 3D seismic response. Bull Seismol Soc Am 107(5):2151–2159. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160213
Khattri K (1987) Great earthquakes, seismicity gaps and potential for earthquake disaster along the himalaya plate boundary. Tectonophysics 138(1):79–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(87)90067-9
Komatitsch D, Tromp J (1999) Introduction to the spectral element method for three-dimensional seismic wave propagation. Geophys J Int 139(3):806–822. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246x.1999.00967.x
Maufroy E, Cruz-Atienza VM, Gaffet S (2012) A robust method for assessing 3-D topographic site effects: a case study at the LSBB Underground Laboratory, France. Earthquake Spectra 28(3):1097–1115. https://doi.org/10.1193/1.4000050
Mittal H, Kumar A, Ramhmachhuani R (2012) Indian national strong motion instrumentation network and site characterization of its stations. Int J Geosci 03(06):1151–1167. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2012.326117
Patera AT (1984) A spectral element method for fluid dynamics: laminar flow in a channel expansion. J Comput Phys 54(3):468–488. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9991(84)90128-1
Podili B, Raghukanth STG (2018) Rating of Indian ground motion records. Nat Hazards 96(1):53–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3530-6
Powell CM, Conaghan P (1973) Plate tectonics and the Himalayas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 20(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821x(73)90134-9
Raghukanth S, Kumari KL, Kavitha B (2012) Estimation of ground motion during the 18th September 2011 Sikkim Earthquake. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 3(1):9–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2011.646323
Raghukanth S, Kumari KL, Somala SN (2013) Regional level ground motion simulation for a hypothetical great earthquake in the Garwhal Himalaya. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 4(3):202–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2012.731658
Rajendran C, Rajendran K (2005) The status of central seismic gap: a perspective based on the spatial and temporal aspects of the large Himalayan earthquakes. Tectonophysics 395(1-2):19–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2004.09.009
Restrepo DL (2013) Effects of topography on 3D seismic ground motion simulation with an application to the Valley of Aburrá in Antioquia, Colombia. PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
Restrepo D, Bielak J, Serrano R, Gómez J, Jaramillo J (2016) Effects of realistic topography on the ground motion of the Colombian Andes–a case study at the Aburrá Valley, Antioquia. Geophys J Int 204(3):1801–1816. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv556
Sills LB (1978) Scattering of horizontally-polarized shear waves by surface irregularities. Geophys J Int 54(2):319–348. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.1978.tb04263.x
Srivastava H, Verma M, Bansal B, Sutar AK (2013) Discriminatory characteristics of seismic gaps in Himalaya. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 6(3):224–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2013.839483
Trifunac MD (1972) Scattering of plane SH waves by a semi-cylindrical canyon. Earthq Eng Struct Dyn 1(3):267–281. https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.4290010307
Vessia G, Cherubini C, Ferrini M, Daprile V (2007) Amplification factors to measure local seismic effects in urban areas. In: Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, June, pp 24–28
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Narasimman Sundararajan
This paper was selected from the 1st Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG), Tunisia 2018
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dhabu, .C., Gudimella, R.S.T. Influence of Himalayan topography on earthquake ground motions. Arab J Geosci 14, 1931 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08111-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08111-1