Seismic Zonations at Micro and Macro-Level for Regions in the Peninsular India

Seismic Zonations at Micro and Macro-Level for Regions in the Peninsular India

Naveen James, T.G Sitharam
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 29
DOI: 10.4018/IJGEE.2016070103
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Abstract

Due to the lack of proper preparedness in the country against natural disasters, even an earthquake of moderate magnitude can cause extensive damage. This necessitates seismic zonation. Seismic zonation is a process in which a large region is demarcated into small zones based on the levels of earthquake hazards. Seismic zonation is generally carried out at micro-level, meso-level and macro-level. Presently, there are only a few guidelines available regarding the use of a particular level of zonation for a given study area. The present study checks the suitability of various levels of seismic zonation for different regions and reviews the feasibility of various methodologies for site characterization and site effect estimation. Further the seismic zonation was carried out both at the micro (for the Kalpakkam) and macro-level (for Karnataka state) using the appropriate methodologies. Based on this, recommendations have been made regarding the suitability of various methodologies as well as the grid size to be adopted for different level of zonation based on actual studies.
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Introduction

Earthquakes are the deadliest of all natural hazards which always remain a serious threat for millions of people worldwide. The hazards from the earthquake can neither be predicted nor can its effects be evaded completely. Hence the only possible solution is to adopt necessary mitigation works in order to minimize the damage caused by these hazards on human settlements. In India, several earthquakes in the past have caused significant damage to the properties and casualties to the human lives. Major earthquakes in the last 20 years such as Khillari (30th September 1993), Jabalpur (22nd May 1997), Chamoli (29th March 1999) and Bhuj (26th January 2001) earthquakes have resulted in more than 23,000 deaths and extensive damage to infrastructures (NDMA, 2010). In India, high human casualty during any seismic event is rather due to the lack of awareness and proper preparation against the earthquake hazards than the magnitude of the earthquake. Moreover, the negligence towards the practice of earthquake resistant design procedures for building construction in the urban areas, aggravates the human casualty count during an earthquake. Even though India’s urban population is only 1/3rd of the total, its rampant growth along with urban sprawl has hit the quality of construction in urban areas. Thus, to mitigate the destructive impact of earthquakes there is a need to create awareness among the common people as well as the mandatory inclusion of earthquake resistant design procedures in the design of buildings and infrastructures. Seismic zonation is a first and foremost step towards the mitigation of the destructive impact of an earthquake. Seismic zonation is a process of dividing a large region into small zones based on the expected level of earthquake hazard. Seismic zonation helps to identify vulnerable regions and also provide necessary outputs for the earthquake resistant design. Hence it is very much required in the modern world in order to minimize the casualty and economic losses during an earthquake. Jabalpur microzonation (PCRSMJUA, 2005) is the first of such initiative in India towards seismic zonation. Subsequently the seismic microzonations are carried out for many regions in India such as 1) Delhi (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2002; Iyengar & Ghosh, 2004; Rao & Neelima Satyam, 2005; Mohanty et al., 2007), 2) Sikkim Himalaya (Nath, 2004) 3) Guwahati (Baranwal et al., 2005; Nath et al., 2008) 4) Dehradun (Barua, 2005; Ranjan, 2005; Gulati, 2006), 5) Bangalore city (Sitharam & Anbazhagan, 2008).

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