Abstract
Earthquake activity in Greenland has been registered and mapped since 1907 (Larsen et al. 2006) and thus a long (albeit relatively sparse) record of seismic activity is available for evaluation of seismic hazard and risk. Seismic hazard assessment is carried out by judging the probability of future earthquakes in a given region and is based on statistic treatment of earthquake data. The determination of the seismic hazard is the first step in an evaluation of seismic risk, i.e. the possible economic costs and loss of human life after an earthquake. The motivation for this seismic hazard study is the registration of four significant earthquakes in Greenland in 2005. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) received reports of all four earthquakes from residents who had felt the shaking. The 2005 earthquakes were located at or near Qeqertarsuaq on 30 March, Sisimiut on 23 July, Station Nord on 30 August and Attu on 23 October (Fig. 1), with magnitudes on the Richter scale of 4.3, 4.1, 5.1 and 2.5, respectively. The earthquake in Attu led to the inhabitants fleeing in their boats.
Highlights
Earthquake activity in Greenland has been registered and mapped since 1907 (Larsen et al 2006) and a long record of seismic activity is available for evaluation of seismic hazard and risk
A first estimate of the seismic hazard of Greenland was presented during the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP; Giardini et al 1999)
The results presented in this study have completely changed the seismic hazard assessment of Greenland compared to the seismic hazard map compiled by GSHAP (Giardini et al 1999)
Summary
Earthquake activity in Greenland has been registered and mapped since 1907 (Larsen et al 2006) and a long (albeit relatively sparse) record of seismic activity is available for evaluation of seismic hazard and risk. The determination of the seismic hazard is the first step in an evaluation of seismic risk, i.e. the possible economic costs and loss of human life after an earthquake. The motivation for this seismic hazard study is the registration of four significant earthquakes in Greenland in 2005. Quakes were primarily shallow; 93% have been located between 0 and 40 km depth
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