Chapter 1 - Synthetic ground motions of the October 8, 2005 Kashmir earthquake (Mw 7.6): An inference to the site response and seismic hazard of Kashmir basin, NW Himalaya

Abstract

Synthetic ground motions of the October 8, 2005 Kashmir earthquake (Mw 7.6) generated at the bedrock and surface level in the Kashmir basin, NW Himalaya are presented here. This earthquake caused paramount amount of damage to life and property. The stochastic finite fault element method with dynamic corner frequency was used to simulate the ground motions of this earthquake throughout the Kashmir basin. The synthetic ground motions were generated at engineering bed rock and later transmitted to the surface using shear wave velocity (Vs30) of the alluvium in the basin. The results are in agreement with the damage trajectory of the earthquake and to the estimates of the ground motion from the field investigations. This study thus presents a “deterministic” scenario of the seismic hazard of the October 8, 2005 earthquake (Mw7.6) in the Kashmir basin. It is also evident from the value and pattern of synthetic ground motions at the surface that the site conditions played an important role in distribution of the ground motions of the October 8, 2005 Kashmir earthquake (Mw 7.6) at the surface. These results are therefore useful in carrying-out the detailed seismic hazard assessment of the Kashmir basin.