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Seismic source characterization for the Shillong Plateau in Northeast India

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Abstract

The present study aims at understanding the seismotectonic province of the Shillong Plateau (SP) by identifying the potential seismic source zones within a radius of 500 km from the centre of the SP. From existing literature and earthquake (EQ) data, the seismotectonic region is found to vary in terms of seismicity, tectonic features, geology, thickness of overburden, rupture characteristics and rate of movement. Thus, entire 500-km-radius seismotectonic region is divided into four seismic source zones: namely (1) the Shillong Plateau–Assam Valley Zone (SP-AVZ), (2) the Indo-Burma Ranges Zone (IBRZ), (3) the Bengal Basin Zone (BBZ) and (4) the Eastern Himalaya Zone (EHZ). EQ catalogues for each source zone is analysed for completeness of magnitude and time. Seismic parameter b estimated using a maximum likelihood method is found to be 0.91 ± 0.03, 0.94 ± 0.02, 0.80 ± 0.03 and 0.89 ± 0.03 for the SP-AVZ, IBRZ, BBZ and EHZ, respectively. In addition, the maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the mean annual activity rate, maximum possible magnitude (m max), return period and probability of exceedance for the four zones. The b values estimated suggest that the BBZ is seismically more active; however, the rate of occurrence of EQs is highest in the IBRZ. Findings from this study are an indication of the relative contribution from each of the four seismic source zones towards a seismic hazard of the SP.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the INSPIRE Faculty program by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for funding the project “Propagation path characterization and determination of in-situ slips along different active faults in the Shillong Plateau” with ref. no. DST/INSPIRE/04/2014/002617 [IFA14-ENG-104 and for providing the necessary motivation for the present study. Further, the authors are thankful to Prof. Kijko for providing the necessary code based on personal communication and for the maximum likelihood method which is very much required for the present analysis.

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    Olympa Baro & Abhishek Kumar

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Baro, O., Kumar, A. Seismic source characterization for the Shillong Plateau in Northeast India. J Seismol 21, 1229–1249 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-017-9664-2

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