Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seismic hazard assessment for Mymensingh, Bangladesh

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mymensingh municipality lies in one of the most earthquake-prone areas of Bangladesh. The town was completely destroyed during the Great Indian Earthquake of 12 June 1897, for which the surface-wave magnitude was 8.1. In this study the 1897 Great Indian Earthquake was used as a scenario event for developing seismic microzonation maps for Mymensingh. For microzonation purposes SPT data from 87 boreholes were collected from different relevant organizations. To verify those data ten boreholes of depth up to 30 m were drilled. Intensity values obtained for different events were calibrated against attenuation laws to check applicability to the study area. Vibration characteristics at diverse points of the study area were estimated by employing the one-dimensional wave-propagation software SHAKE. SHAKE discretizes the soil profile into several layers and uses an iterative technique to represent the non-linear behavior of the soil by adjusting the material properties at each iteration step. The required input information includes depth, shear wave velocity, damping factor, and unit weight of each soil layer. The liquefaction resistance factor and the resulting liquefaction potential were estimated to quantify the severity of liquefaction. Quantification of secondary site effects and the weighting scheme for combining the various seismic hazards were heuristic, based on judgment and expert opinion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alam MK (1988) Geology of Madhupur Tract and its adjoining areas in Bangladesh. Geol surv Bangladesh Rec 5:23

    Google Scholar 

  • Alam MK, Hassan AKMS, Khan MR, Whitney JW (1990) Geological Map of Bangladesh. Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Geological Survey of Bangladesh

    Google Scholar 

  • Arya A (2000) Non-engineered construction in developing countries—an approach toward earthquake risk prediction. In: Proceedings of 12th WCEE, No. 2824

  • Bilham R, Gaur VK, Molnar P (2001) Himalayan seismic hazard. Science 293:1442–1444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boore D, Joyner W, Fumal TE (1997) Equation for estimating horizontal response spectra and peak acceleration from Western North American Earthquakes: a summary of recent work. Seism Res Lett 68(1):128–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman JM (1969) Brahmaputra river-channel processes and sedimentation. Sed Geol 3(2/3):131–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) (1990) Geological map of Bangladesh

  • Islam MK, Hassan M, Majlis ABK, Nizamuddin M (1995) Structure and tectonics of the eastern part of the Jamuna Valley, Bangladesh: a tectono–geomorphic approach. Bangladesh J Geol 14:15–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Islam MK, Hassan M, Majlis ABK, Alam AKMK (2006) Geoarchaeology of Wari-Bateshwar Area, Narsingdi District, Bangladesh. Bangladesh J Geol 25:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwasaki T, Tokida K, Tatsuoka F, Watanabe S, Yasuda S, Sato H (1982) Microzonation for soil liquefaction using simplified methods. In: Proceedings of the Third International Earthquake Microzonation Conference. Seattle, Washington 3:1319–1330

  • Joyner WB, Boore DW (1988) Measurement, characterization and prediction of strong ground motion. In Proc. ASCE Conf. Earthquake Eng. Soil Dyn., Park City, Utah, 43–102

  • Juang CH, Elton DJ (1991) Use of fuzzy sets for liquefaction susceptibility zonation. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Seismic Zonation, Stanford, CA. 25–29 August 1991 II:629–636

  • Khan ASA (2004) Geotechnical characteristics of an alluvial deposit: case of Mymensingh Town, M. Engineering Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka

  • Kiremidjian AS (1992) Methods for regional damage estimation. In: Proceedings of the 10th World’s Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Madrid, Spain. 19–24 July 1992

  • Kiremidjian AS, King SA, Sugito M, Shah HC (1991) Simple site dependent ground motion parameters for the San Francisco Bay Region, The John A Blume Earthquake Engineering Center Report No. 97, Department of Civil Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

  • Korkmaz AK (2009) Earthquake disaster risk assessment and evaluation for Turkey. Environ Geol 57:307–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire R (1978) Seismic ground motion parameters relations. J Geotech Div ASCE 104:461–490

    Google Scholar 

  • Molnar P, Tapponier P (1975) Cenozoic tectonics of Asia, effects of a continental collision. Science 189(8):419–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan JP, McIntire (1959) Quaternary geology of Bengal basin, East Pakistan and India. Bull Geol Soc America 70:319–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman MS (2006) Seismic loss estimation for Mymensingh Town, M. Engineering Thesis, BUET, Dhaka-1000

  • Sadigh K, Egan J, Youngs R (1986) Specification of ground motion for seismic design of long period structures. Earthquake Notes, Volume 57(1), p 13

  • Schnabel PB, Lysmer J, Seed HB (1972) SHAKE—a computer Program for Earthquake Response Analysis of Horizontally Layered Sites, Earthquake Engineering Research Centre Report 72-12, University of California, Berkeley

  • Schneider P, Schauer B (2005) An earthquake risk assessment tool for Turkey, HAZTURK strategies for earthquake loss estimation program for Turkey, Istanbul

  • Seed HB, Idriss IM (1971) Simplified procedure for evaluating liquefaction potential. ASCE J Soil Mech Found Div SM9:1249–1273

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharfuddin M (2001) Earthquake hazard analysis for Bangladesh, M.Sc. Engineering Thesis, BUET, Dhaka-1000

  • Tamura I, Yamazaki F (2002) Estimation of S-wave velocity based on geological survey data for K-NET and Yokohama seismometer network. J Struct Mech Earthq Eng I-58(696):237–248 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Trifunac MD, Brady (1975) Preliminary analysis of the peaks of earthquake strong ground motion-dependence of earthquake peaks on earthquake magnitude, epicentral distance, and recording site conditions. Bull Seismol Soc Am 1:139–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Youd TL (1991) Mapping of earthquake-induced liquefaction for seismic zonation. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Seismic Zonation, Stanford, CA. 25–29 August 1991, vol 1, pp 111–147

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, BUET, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Jiban K. Sarker, Mehedi Ahmed Ansary, Md. S. Rahman & A. M. M. Safiullah

Authors
  1. Jiban K. Sarker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mehedi Ahmed Ansary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Md. S. Rahman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. M. M. Safiullah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehedi Ahmed Ansary.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sarker, J.K., Ansary, M.A., Rahman, M.S. et al. Seismic hazard assessment for Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Environ Earth Sci 60, 643–653 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0204-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0204-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation