Seismic hazard assessment in the Jia Bhareli river catchment in eastern Himalaya from SRTM-derived basin parameters, India

Abstract

SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission), Landsat ETM+ satellite image analysis along with earthquake data in the Jia Bhareli river catchment, an eastern Himalayan tributary of the Brahmaputra indicates neotectonic activities in the region. We have envisaged from the study that the western part of the river catchment (western tectonic domain) is highly tectonically active as indicated by earthquake data, and SRTM DEM-derived longitudinal profiles, valley profiles, valley asymmetry, hypsometric integral values. On the other hand, the eastern part of the catchment has no sign of such active tectonics (eastern tectonic domain) except the south convex fan-shaped zone further east with linear ridges paralleling the convex shape deforming the Miocene–Pleistocene Siwalik sediments and the Quaternary piedmont deposits in the Himalayan foothills. The catchment seems tilting to the east due to the ongoing tectonic activities propagating the deformational activities, generating folded structures, to the east and yielding earthquakes due to rigid deformation in the western part of the catchment. From the study, seismic risk in the south–central part of eastern Himalayas around Bomdila in the state of Arunachal Pradesh appears to be high.