Abstract
This paper is about short review of earthquake statistics and efforts for earthquake mitigation, hazard and risk assessment studies in Pakistan. Pakistan and adjoining region lying between longitude 60°E to 78°E and latitude 20°N to 45°N are selected for the study as this region has a history of many large earthquakes because of its location in the region of intersection of three plates namely Indian, Eurasian and Arabian Sea plate. This paper is based on the study of both seismological history of the region which includes recent and historical seismicity based on earthquake catalogue as well as geological knowledge supplemented with available fault system information. In this study, Pakistan and adjoining regions are divided into 14 seismogenic zones. Seismicity of each zone is studied considering also the major cities in the respective zone and type of infrastructure which is mainly responsible for earthquake disaster rather than earthquake itself.
Highlights
Pakistan has a history of many large earthquakes and its various regions are at high seismic risk due to presence of numerous active faults as the area under consideration is situated on a known high seismic belt borderingHow to cite this paper: Sarwar, F., Iqbal, S., Qaisar, M., Rehman, A., Akhtar, F. and Raza, S.M. (2016) Earthquake Statistics and Earthquake Research Studies in Pakistan
On the north-western edge of Indian plate lies Punjab and Sindh, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan lie within the Eurasian plate whereas Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas are prone to strong earthquakes as they lie where two tectonic plates collide
We have identified that zone-4 is seismically the most active zone of Pakistan because it consist of most active faults namely the Resbun fault, Main Karakoram Thrust (MKT), Main Mantle Thrust (MMT), Sassi-Dassu, Jehlum fault, Terbela fault, Balakot-Bagh fault (BBF)
Summary
Pakistan has a history of many large earthquakes and its various regions are at high seismic risk due to presence of numerous active faults as the area under consideration is situated on a known high seismic belt borderingHow to cite this paper: Sarwar, F., Iqbal, S., Qaisar, M., Rehman, A., Akhtar, F. and Raza, S.M. (2016) Earthquake Statistics and Earthquake Research Studies in Pakistan. Based on geological and geomorphological evidence, many seismological sources have been recognized in Pakistan [2]. In this paper, both the seismological and geological history of the region has been taken into account, which is based on earthquake catalogue and associated fault system in the region. Pakistan overlaps two tectonic plates, Eurasian plate and Indian plate. On the north-western edge of Indian plate lies Punjab and Sindh, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan lie within the Eurasian plate whereas Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas are prone to strong earthquakes as they lie where two tectonic plates collide. Not much attention is being paid to earthquake studies and research work in Pakistan. The more recent Ziarat earthquake on 28 October 2008 of M 6.4, Awaran district Balochistan earthquake on September 24, 2013 of M 7.8 and Awaran district Balochistan earthquake on September 28, 2013, M 6.8 and on 26 Oct 2015 of magnitude 7.6 struck northern areas, and all these earthquakes all over the country had created a threat to the human society
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