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Source study of M w 5.4 April 4, 2011 India–Nepal border earthquake and scenario events in the Kumaon–Garhwal Region

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Abstract

In the present work, ground motion is estimated from future scenario earthquakes at different sites in Uttarakhand Himalayas in India using empirical Green’s function (EGF) technique. The recorded ground motion from April 4, 2011, M w 5.4 earthquake is taken as a basic element. The ground motion is estimated at 24 sites, where the element earthquake was recorded. It is observed from synthesized time histories that sites located near the epicenter may expect accelerations in excess of 1 g. In the present analysis, Dharchula can expect ground accelerations in excess of 1 g. For M w 7.0, the expected peak values of acceleration (A max) and velocity (V max) on horizontal components at different sites range between 11 and 912 gal and 5 and 52 cm/s, respectively. The corresponding values for the Z component range between 8 and 228 gal, and 3 and 14 cm/s, respectively. Similarly, for M w 7.5, the expected A max and V max on horizontal components at different sites range between 25 and 1281 gal and 25 and 102 cm/s, respectively. The corresponding values for the Z component range between 14 to 474 gal, and 15 to 70 cm/s, respectively. The site amplification functions are estimated using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio procedure. Zone IV (on a scale of II to V according to the seismic zonation map for India) response spectrum for 5 % damping is deficient for M w 7.0, while zone V response spectrum is exceeded at several frequencies for same magnitude. For M w 7.5, zone IV response spectrum is conservative (except at some frequencies), while zone V response spectrum is exceeded at many sites. The estimated PGA values can be incorporated in marking the weak areas in the central Himalaya, thereby assisting the designing and construction of new structures.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are profusely thankful to Prof. S.K. Singh, Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad, Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) for providing the codes of his program. The authors are thankful to Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), Government of India and Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of China, for funding projects under which this research and revision of manuscript was carried out. We are also very thankful to editor-in-chief, Abdullah M. Al-Amri for his valuable revision, which helped us to clarify and improve this paper. Comments from an anonymous reviewer helped in improving the manuscript. The strong motion data from IITR network is freely available from website www.pesmos.in (last accessed January 2015) to the registered users. We acknowledge the IITR network for the same. The GMT software from Wessel and Smith (1998) was used in plotting part of the figures and is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, 10617, Taipei, Taiwan

    Himanshu Mittal & Yih-Min Wu

  2. Department of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Ashok Kumar

  3. National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, 10668, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yih-Min Wu

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Kamal

  5. Department of Civil Engineering, Arni University, Kathgarh, Indora, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Arjun Kumar

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  1. Himanshu Mittal
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Correspondence to Himanshu Mittal.

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Mittal, H., Kumar, A., Wu, YM. et al. Source study of M w 5.4 April 4, 2011 India–Nepal border earthquake and scenario events in the Kumaon–Garhwal Region. Arab J Geosci 9, 348 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2330-0

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