the 2001 bhuj earthquake and advances in …...the 2001 bhuj earthquake and advances in earthquake...

The 2001 Bhuj Earthquake and Advances in Earthquake Science (AES-2011)

112 22 - 24 January, 2011

S16-IGCP_Keynote-1

Archaeoseismology and the role of tectonicsin the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization

Pradeep Talwani (Department of Earth andOcean Sciences, University of South CarolinaColumbia, SC, 29208, USA)

The study of how earthquakes affect archaeology,archaeo-seismology, is a nascent forensic sciencewhere in archaeologists are beginning to appreciatethe role of earthquakes in the destruction of structuresand earth scientists are beginning to decipherarchaeological ruins to fill gaps in their knowledgeof prehistoric earthquakes and improve seismichazard assessment in a region. Recent archaeo-seismological studies have shown the role ofearthquakes in the destruction of major structuresand end of many civilizations in the seismically activeregion in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Someof the techniques employed in archaeoseismologyinclude the identification of the affects on structuresof the horizontal and vertical ground movements onwhich they are built, and on the patterns ofdestruction due to shaking.

Several causes have been attributed to the suddenend of the Indus Valley Civilization, ~2500 to 1700years before present. Among these, a cause I willexplore in my talk is the role of tectonics. I will alsoexplore the possibility of conducting archeo-seismological investigations to decipher the ancientearthquakes that leveled Dholavira, the ruins of whichlie on the seismically active Island Belt fault.

S16_IGCP-I1

Major Earthquake Occurrences inArchaeological Strata of Harappan Settlementat Dholavira (Kachchh, Gujarat)

R.S. Bisht (E-mail: [email protected]),Former Joint Director General, ArchaeologicalSurvey of India, 9/19 Rajendra Nagar III,Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, U.P. 201 005

Archaeological excavation at Dholavira, DistrictKachchh, Gujarat, (during 1990-2005) has suggestedthat the Harappan settlement thereat visited by atleast three major seismic episodes of intensemagnitude at different time-periods during the thirdmillennium BCE. Significantly, the first two broughtabout qualitative changes in the planning as well asin cultural form, of course, for good as the state ofeconomy was healthy and growing, while the thirdone dealt a fatal blow to the mature Harappan cityand forced the inhabitants to abandon the settlementbecause the already tattering financial condition didnot enable them to undertake large-scale damagesthat have been wrought.

It is necessary to state at the outset that the signaturesof all the three devastative earthquakes are bestevident in the castle, which was the most important,most attractive and towering component of theHarappan settlement. A deep gully cut by the rainwater across the southern arm of the fortificationwall of the castle was considered to make a deepprobing with a view to obtaining a cultural sequencevis-à-vis growth of defences which incidentallyprovided evidence for successive earthquakes, atleast the first two.

S16: IGCP Session on Archeoseismology

Conveners: Prof. Manuel Sintubin and Dr. Javed Malik.

THEME

The session on Earthquake Archaeology in Central and Southern Asia invites case studiesthat consider the principles and/or practices of archaeoseismology within the broaderHimalayan seismic zone in Central (e.g. Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tibet)and Southern Asia (e.g. India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh). This session is organizedin the framework of the international geosciences programme IGCP567.

11322 - 24 January, 2011


First earthquake occurred towards the closeof the cultural Stage II, possibly sometime after2900 BCE. Its signatures are found in theoccupational strata, deposited against thefortification walls of the first two stages. Allthose layers show two vertical breakages andas many dislocation, i.e. subsidence, morepronouncedly in those floor layers which weremade of compact earth or clay. All strata slightlyslid towards north causing a small bulge a littlefurther where two mud-brick walls of twodifferent stages worked as bulwark.Furthermore, both the houses walls wereconsiderably impacted, so much so their bricksgot badly crushed.

Second earthquake was far more devastative.It brought about end of Stage IIIA, sometimearound 2700 BCE, when the mature Harappanswere yet to arrive on the scene. A large chunk,measuring 7.60 m wide, of which 2.80 m heightis now extant, collapsed and slipped away.Additionally, 4.00 m wide portion of the wall,behind the collapsed part, got partly dislodgedand smashed or deeply fissured. The latter maystill be seen behind the later reconstruction. Thiseffected part which was retained still showdislodgment, smashing and slipping of brickwork. A horizontal cross section portion of thusimpacted wall has shown multiple cracks runningalmost parallel in E-W direction, which arereflected on the vertical section as well.

Another piece of evidence of this occurrencewas seen beside an inner bastion.

The southern face, of this structure collapsedand its stone were found lying helter-skelterduring excavation.

Tell-tale marks of this visitation could be seenelsewhere too.

Third earthquake resulted in the end of themature Harappans’ stay at the site, somewhereduring 2100-2000 BCE. It caused tremendousdamage to the gates of the castle. Particularly,the north gate retained the impact in the formof tilting and arching of the enormously thickinner walls while the outer ones seem to havecollapsed at the first tremor itself.

In the southern arm of the castle, a 6.30 m partof the wall slipped from the top.

The quake must have razed most of theresidential houses down to the ground. But theevidence was hard to find because the laterHarappans, who came to occupy the site aftera gap of many decades, had collected the stonesand even robbed the pre-existing ruins to buildtheir defences and houses, thus obliterated thesigns of the damage.

Here, its seems worthwhile to recall that all thehouses of the ultimate phase, so far excavatedat another Harappan site, Juni Kuran in theKhavda Bet (Kachchh), were found to havebeen collapsed towards the south.

This is the observation and interpretation of anarchaeologist who knows a little of seismology.

S16_IGCP-C1

Archaeological Evidences for a 12th -14th

Century Earthquake at Ahichhatra, Barreilly(U.P.), India

Bhuvan Vikrama1 (E-mail: [email protected]),S. Sravanthi2 (E-mail: [email protected]),Javed N Malik3 (E-mail: [email protected]),Onkar Dikshit4 (E-mail: [email protected])

(1Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India,Agra., 2PhD Student, Department of CivilEngineering, IITK, Kanpur., 3Associate Professor,Department of Civil Engineering, IITK, Kanpur,4Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IITK,Kanpur)

In India archaeo-seismology is still in its infancy,despite the claim of the earliest archaeologicallydated earthquake at Kalibangan was made as earlyas 1963-64. This and such other claims weresupported more by wishful thinking and surmisesrather than by varied and numerous archaeologicalevidences.

Recent excavations at Ahichhatra, located in theUpper Gangetic Plain in the wet-lands betweenHimalayan foothills and river Ganga, have revealedevidences which may indicate towards an earthquakeevent causing proverbial end to the dwindling city.Recent paleo-seismic investigation in the Central and


114 22 - 24 January, 2011

North-West Himalayan Foothills suggestsoccurrences of a few major paleo-earthquakesduring 1000 AD-1500 AD (Lave et al., 2005; Kumaret al., 2006; Malik et al., 2008). It has been suggestedthat ~1100 AD a major earthquake occurred alongMain Frontal Thrust with a surface rupture of about200 km – 300 km along the strike of the fault in thefoothill zone (Lave et al., 2005). Another set of eventsare been reported to have occurred during 984 AD-1433 AD around Ramnagar in Central Himalaya(Kumar et al., 2006) and along North-WestHimalayan foothills during ~1400-1500 AD (Kumaret al., 2006; Malik et al., 2008). Thus the majorearthquake events those occurred during 1100 AD-1400 AD were responsible for the destruction of theAhichhatra and in particular probably the 1278-1400AD events (?) from Ramnagar located about 120km from Ahichhatra contributed to total destructionof the site.

This paper envisages to list all such evidence fromAhichhatra and test them on the whetstone of thereasoning and archaeo-seismological parameters. Anattempt will be made to date the eventarchaeologically and understand the relationship tothe paleo-earthquake event.

S12_IGCP-C2

Active Fault Influence on the Evolution ofLandscape and Drainage: Evidence fromLateral Propagation of a Branching Out Faultalong Himalayan Front and Deflection of DabkaRiver, Kumaun, Himalaya

Javed N. Malik (Email: [email protected], Ph:91-512-2597723, Fax: 91-512-2597395), Sambit P.Naik, A. A. Shah and N. R. Patra (Departmentof Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of TechnologyKanpur, Kanpur -208016. Uttar Pradesh, India

The geomorphology and drainage patterns in an areaof active fault and related growing fold providesignificant information on the ongoing tectonicactivity. The Kaladungi fault, an imbricated thrustfault of Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT) systemprovides one such excellent examples of forwardand lateral propagation of fault and related folding.This fault has displaced the Kaladungi fan surfacealong it, which is well revealed by variable heightsalong the front. In the east, the uplifted fan surface

is much higher (~140 m) as compared to the west(~60 m). The variation in heights along the fault linecan be attributed to the lateral propagation of fault-fold towards northwest. The northwestwardpropagation of the Kaladungi fault has resulted intodiversion of the Dabka River. A marked diversion ofthe modern Dabka River along its present coursefrom east to west direction can be traced betweenthe Pawalgarh and Karampur towns covering adistance of about 7-8 km. The diversion of DabkaRiver can well be justified by the existence of paleo-wind gap through which it flowed earlier in the recentpast. The wind-gap is characterized by about 1-1.5km wide incised valley extending in NE-SWdirection from Pawalgarh right up to the front

From our studies we conclude that initially the tectonicactive propagated forward along the Kaladungi fault,and then the fault started propagating laterally towardswest causing diversion of the Dabka River.

Keywords: Active fault; lateral propagation;River diversion; Dabka River; Central Himalaya.

S16_IGCP-C3

Signatures of active faulting in SouthernPeninsular India

Biju John, D.T. Rao, Yogendra Singh and P.C.Nawani (National Institute of Rock Mechanics,Kolar, Karnataka)

Peninsular India was considered as seismically stableuntil the most devastating 1993 Latur Earthquake(M=6.3) occurred in this region. Most of the sourcezones in peninsular India could not be identified beforebigger earthquakes, mainly due to their longrecurrence intervals. Thus it is important to identifysuch source zones through geological andgeomorphological studies. Recent studies in theregion south of Palghat Cauvery shear zone,identified two NW-SE trending source zones viz.Desamangalam and Periyar faults, in the WesternGhat region based on the geological andgeomorphological evidences.

In the present study another possible NW-SEtrending source zone is identified in a flat terrain inthe southern Tamilnadu, where most of the drainagesare seasonal. Regionally this lineament is sympatheticto Achancovil shear zone of Pan African orognesis

11522 - 24 January, 2011


(700-500 Ma). The major drainage of the area,Karamaniyar River, is flowing along the part of thislineament in the study area. The trace of the fault isvisible both in crystalline and Miocene formationsand is associated with distinct geomorphic featureson either side. In the east coast, this fault shows anelevated perturbation of southwestern portion oflandmass towards sea whereas beach rocks are notexposed in the northeastern side of the land mass. Amajor drainage seems to be abandoned in thesouthwestern block of the fault whereas a big naturalpond developed in the northeastern block in the studyarea. Our field studies identified a zone of fracturedlaterite extending beyond 500m in the hard capping(vermicular laterite) of the crystalline rocks. Thedeformation zone is charaterised by open cracks aswell as reverse movement where no further leachingafter the fracturing. This may indicate that thefracturing might have occurred after ending of thelaterization process. The style of the deformationexhibits similar to that of surface rupture associatedwith Latur Earthquake and may be indicating theprevalence of compressive tectonic regime even atthe southern end of Peninsular India.

S16_IGCP-C4

Macroseismic Intensity Assessment of 1885AD Historical Earthquake of NW KashmirHimalaya, Using ESI Scale

Bashir Ahmad (E-mail:[email protected]), G.A. Mukhtar #,A.S. Mahmood$ (* Department of Education,J&K, Srinagar, India # Jammu and KashmirPower Development Corporation, Srinagar, India $Directorate of Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir,Srinagar, India)

Kashmir Valley having long history of 5,000 yearsprovides a sketchy picture of historical earthquakes.In all we collated details of 18 earthquakes from thehistorical scribes. While most of the earthquakes mayhave their epicenters outside the Kashmir Valley, andfew which caused severe demage to life and propertyand were associated with ground ruptures and longperiods of aftershocks seems to have been appearedwithin the Valley. Of these, only 1885 AD event iswell documented. We analyse environmental effectsof this ruinous earthquake which occurred along PirPanjal range of NW Kashmir Himalaya in the early

morning (5.00 a:m) of 1885 AD. The present attemptenvisages to implement ESI 2007 macroseismicintensity scale where in archival sources have beenconsulted. The effects (primary and secondary)induced by 1885 AD event to the environment revealsthat intensity would have been VIII–IX on ESI scalewhich correspond to 8.75–9.5 on RF scale andprobably 5.3–6.7 on Richter scale. It has been furtherinferred that the intensity must have been variableall along the Epicentral tract (severe at Baramullaless at Srinagar) because of the severity of demagedecreasing from NW to SE direction.

S16_IGCP-C5

Fault segmentation and propagationcharacteristics based on rupture patterns andslip distribution along the 1957 Gobi-Altayearthquake rupture, Mongolia

Jin-Hyuck Choi1, Kwangmin Jin1, AmgalanBayasgalan2 and Young-Seog Kim1

(E-mail: [email protected]) (1GSGR, Dept. ofEarth Environmental Sciences, Pukyong NationalUniversity, Busan 608-737, Korea., 2School ofGeology and Petroleum Engineering, MongolianUniversity of Science and Technology (MUST),Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.)

The 260km-long surface rupture associated with the1957 Gobi-Altay earthquake (Mw=8.1) occurredalong the WNW-ESE or EW-trending Bogd left-lateral strike-slip fault in SE Mongolia. Some dip slipswere reported around the secondary thrust andnormal faults locally developed along the fault.However, detailed study on slip distribution, faultsegmentation and propagation along this rupture hasnot been carried out. In this study, geomorphologicand geological investigations including measurementof the amount of horizontal- and vertical-slips arecarried out to interpret rupture patterns andcharacteristics of slip distribution.

Based on the earthquake information, the surfacerupture was initiated near the western end of therupture and propagated unilaterally eastwards. Theleft-lateral slip along the rupture up to 7.0 m andwith 3.5-4.0 m of average displacement. Althoughthe Bogd rupture propagated through manygeometrical oversteps, abrupt changes of slipoccurred only at three oversteps. Based on the


116 22 - 24 January, 2011

rupture patterns and slip distribution, the Bogd surfacerupture is composed of three segments; North-Ih,East-Ih and North-Baga Bogd segments from westto east. The eastern tip damage zone is characterizedby widely developed minor ruptures (conjugate faults,mole tracks, and tension cracks) with smalldisplacements (less than 1m) rather than the westerntip zone.

The slip distribution pattern indicates that overstepsact as barriers against rupture propagation. Thissupports that structural maturity of step-over zoneis one of the main controlling factors on rupturepropagation. The asymmetric tip damage pattern isalso well consistent with the unilateral propagationof the 1957 earthquake. Slip distribution indicatesthat the easternmost overstep acted as a strongbarrier, and the displacement is decreased and theeastern tip damage structures may be developed toaccommodate the releasing stress.

Detailed analyses on the 1957 earthquake rupturepatterns and slip distribution indicate; 1) minorruptures are concentrated at fault linkage and tipzones, and their damage patterns strongly resemblethe suggested fault damage model, 2) characteristicsof step-over zone highly affect fault propagation andtermination. These results indicate that faultsegmentation and propagation are very importantfactors to fault damage patterns and amount of slipalong earthquake ruptures.

S16_IGCP-C6

Preliminary study on active faults aroundMandi region, NW Himalaya, India

Javed N. Malik (Email: [email protected]),Santiswarup Sahoo (Department of CivilEngineering

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur-208016, UttarPradesh, India.)

The Mandi area in Himachala Pradesh falls undermeizoseismal zone of 1905 Kangra earthquake innorthwest Himalaya. Preliminary satellite photointerpretation revealed offset of streams, linearvalleys and occurrence of fault scarps along theNNW-SSE striking faults with right-lateral sense ofmovement near Mandi and Marathu villages. Mostprominent stream offsets were considered near

Mandi and Marathu areas to calculate the slip ratealong the faults in both the segments. In order tocalculate the slip rate, the offset ratio (a=D/L) assuggested by Matsuda (1975) was used, where D –is the offset of the streams along the faults and L –is the upstream length of the respective stream. Theaverage slip rate along both the segments is about4.9 ± 0.15 mm/yr. The preliminary identification ofactive fault trace extending for about 20 km suggeststhat this fault can produce an earthquake of M>6.5.Further studies are in progress, which will be greatsignificance towards better evaluating the seismichazard of this region.

IGCP-C7

Archaeology of Earthquakes at Mahasthanghar(Province of Bogra, Bangladesh)

Bruno Helly1, Ernelle Berliet2, BarbaraFaticoni3 (1 Directeur de recherche au CNRS(émérite), membre de la Mission franco-bangladaisede Mahasthanghar, Maison de Orient et de laMéditerranée Jean-Pouilloux, Université de Lyon, 7,rue Raulin, F 69007 LYON (France).,2Archéologue,membre de la Mission franco-bangladaise deMahasthanghar, École Française d’ExtrêmeOrient,Bangkok.3Archéologue, membre de laMission franco-bangladaise de Mahasthanghar,Université La Sapîenza, Rome (Italie)).

At about twenty miles northwest of the present townof Bogra, north of the confluence of the Ganges andBrahmaputra, is the ancient walled city ofMahasthan. Beyond the fortifications, the suburbanarea from ancient times spread over a radius of 8 to9 km outside the walls, with theexception of theeastern side limited by the course of Karatoya, ariver that has largely contributed to the prosperity ofthe city and which also marks the limits of expansionof the site. A high brick wall, surrounded by a roaddefines urban space itself about 1.5 km long by 1km wide. The remains of the ancient city werediscovered and identified for the first time by F.Buchanan Hamilton, 1808.But it was not until 1879that Sir Cunningham identifies Mahasthan as theancient city of Pundranagar reported by the texts.The first regular excavations at Mahasthan wereconducted between 1928 and 1933, then sporadicallyuntil 1936, by the Indian archaeologist K.N. Diksit

11722 - 24 January, 2011


of the Archaeological Survey of India.

The latest research at Mahasthan is developped asa cooperative program run by a Franco-Bangladeshsince 1993 under the direction of Jean-FrançoisSalles. The early campaigns (1993-1999)concentrated on an area called “Rampart East”aimed at establishing the whole stratigraphicsequence and timing of the city and its evolution.The layers were well preserved since the oldestdating in IVe century BC levels until the latest datingfrom around the twelfth century AD. In view ofanalyzing the levels of medieval and modernoccupation, an excavation program was launched in2001 in south-eastern city on the plateau of Mazar,the highest point of the city. They revealed aresidential area which corresponds to the last periodof occupation of the site and whose remains offerclear traces of violent and simultaneously destructionthat can probably be attributed to an earthquake.Recent campaigns (2005-2010) on the wall that limitsthe area of the city have helped to clarify thishypothesis and to refine the chronology of events :the construction of this wall in the oldest period, thesuccessive phases of reconstruction, particularlyafter a siege of a rare intensity, and finally the finalphase of a wall hastily restored before beingpermanently ruined by the earthquake that endedthe history of the city.

À une vingtaine de kilomètres au nord-ouest del’actuelle ville de Bogra, au Nord de la confluencedu Gange et du Brahmapoutre, s’élève ville fortifiéede Mahasthan. Au delà des fortifications, l’espacesuburbain des temps anciens s’étend sur un rayonde 8 à 9 km hors les murs, à l’exception de la faceorientale limitée par le cours de la Karatoya, unerivière qui a largement contribué à la prospérité dela ville et qui marque également les limites del’expansion du site. Un haut rempart de briques, bordéd’un fosse (douve ?), délimite l’espace urbainproprement dit sur 1,5 km de long par 1 km de large.Les vestiges de l’ancienne cité ont été découvertset repérés pour le première fois par F. BuchananHamilton, en 1808. Mais ce n’est qu’en 1879 queSir Cunningham identifie Mahasthan comme étantla ville antique de Pundranagara relatée par lestextes. Les premières campagnes de fouillesrégulières à Mahasthan ont été menée entre 1928 et1933, puis de manière plus sporadique jusqu’en 1936,

par l’archéologue indien K.N. Diksit del’Archaeological Survey of India. Les recherchesles plus récentes s’inscrivent dans le cadre d’unprogramme de coopération mené par une équipefranco-bangladaise depuis 1993, sous la direction deJean-François Salles. Les premières campagnes(1993-1999) concentrées sur un secteur nommé «Rempart Est » visaient à établir l’ensemble dessequences stratigraphiques et chronologiques de laville et de son évolution. Les couches étaient bienpréservées depuis les plus anciennes remontant auIVe s. av. jusqu’au niveau datant des environs duXIIe siècle ap. J.-C. Dans la perspective d’analyserles niveaux d’époque médiévale et moderne, unprogramme de fouilles a été lance en 2001 au sud-est de la ville, sur le plateau de Mazar, le point leplus élevé de la ville. Ils ont révélé un quartierd’habitation qui correspond à la dernière périoded’occupation du site et dont les vestiges portentclairement les traces d’une destruction violente etsimultanée que l’on peut probablement attribue r àun séisme. Les campagnes récentes (2005-2010) surle rempart qui limite ce secteur de la ville ont permisde préciser cette hypothèse et d’affiner lachronologie des événements : la construction de cerempart dans la période la plus ancienne, les phasesde reconstruction successives, notamment suite àun siège d’une rare intensité, et enfin la phase finaled’une muraille hâtivement restaurée avant d’êtredéfinitivement ruinée par le séisme qui a mis fin àl’histoire de la cité.

S16_IGCP-C8

Archeoseismology of the A.D. 1545 earthquakein Chiang Mai, northern Thailand

Miklos Kazmer1 (E-mail: [email protected])and Kamol Sanittham2 (1Department ofPalaeontology, Eotvos University, Pazmany Petersetany 1/c, H-1016 Budapest, Hungary.2Department of Mathematics and Statistics,Chiangmai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai,Thailand)

The A.D. 1545 Chiang Mai earthquake in Thailandis one of the few ancient seismic events, when bothhistorical documentation and the hard evidence, „thesmoking gun” is available. We studied the Buddhisttemples in and around the old city of Chiang Mai to


118 22 - 24 January, 2011

identify possible earthquake-induced damagespreserved in the buildings’ structure and orientation.The earthquake occurred on 28 July 1545, in theafternoon hours between 4.30 and 6.00 pm.

The well-known Wat Chedi Luang – highest chediever built on the alluvial soil of the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Basin – has lost about half of the original80-metres height, due to southward-directedcollapse. We visited further seventy-four temple sitesin search for earthquake-induced damages. Twenty-one sites display tilting of the chedi, up to 5°systematically either in northward or southwarddirection. Data for pre-1545 construction of templesare mostly available. We suggest that a city-wideliquefaction event occurred related to the A.D. 1545earthquake. North-south-directed strong motiondestroyed the Wat Chedi Luang, and affected other,significantly smaller buildings of different vibrationcharacteristics. An area of at least 4 km2 sufferedliquefaction extended on the Ping River alluvial plain,where ground-water level is often less than 1 m belowground.

Liquefaction is mostly attributed to nearby epicentres(within 3-4 km). We suggest that the activity of thenearby Doi Suthep fault westward of Chiang Maicity is responsible for both the desctruction of WatChedi Luang and the liquefaction-induced tilting ofmany other chedis in the area.

The Doi Suthep low-angle normal fault is currentlyregarded as inactive. It is the western master faultof the half-graben of the Chiang Mai Basin. ItsMiocene activity produced the km-thick sedimentarysuccession of the basin, while allowing the uplift ofthe Tertiary metamorphic core comples of DoiSuthep. Its continued activity in the Holocene isevidenced by the extensive alluvial plain of Ping Riverextending westwards just to the foot of Doi SuthepMountain.

Currenty earthquake activity in northern Thailand ininterpreted within the framework of Thoen Fault(Chiang Saen, May 2007, ML = 6.3), Mae Tha andPha Youv fault zones tens of kilometres away. Sincerecurrence time of major earthquakes seems to belonger than the instrumental period of 50 years,archaeoseismology is a necessary tool to extend theobservation period to centuries.

S16_IGCP-C9

Paleoseismological analysis in north ofDushanbeh, Tajikistan

H. Nazari, 1,2 M. Qorashi,2 A. Ibrohim,3 M.Shokri,1 A. Fathian,1 R. Juroyov3 and B.Oveisi1 (1Geological survey of Iran,Seismotectonic group, P.O. Box 13185-1494,Tehran, Iran., 2Institute for Earth Science,Geological survey of Iran, P.O. Box 13185-1494,Tehran, Iran.,3Geological Survey of Tajikistan

Dushanbeh, capital of the Tajikistan with 680,000population, Standing at south of the Hissar range thatis surrounded by several active faults. Height of theHissar with WNW-ESE trend are including ofmetamorphosed and nonmetamorphosed rocks ofPaleozoic to Mesozoic that are covered by Neogenedeposits in south of Dushanbeh.

Regard to morphotectonic features and lack ofinstrumental and historical earthquakes in this area,it is necessary to know about active faults and pastseismicity of them for a better perception of seismichazard in Dushanbeh city. paleoseismology is oneapproach that we can use for this purpose.

In this study we used satellite imagery (Spot; withpixel size 2.5m, SRTM data with 90m resolution),digital topographic model made by kinematic GPSand field observation during June 2010 to identifygeometry and kinematic patterns of the mostimportant fault near the Tajikistan capital.

In order to identify paleo events, we dug two trenchesat north of sheikhan village along an active scarp.Measured apparent Vertical and leftlateraldisplacement on a ridges axis are 19 and 12 mrespectively. Trench 1 with 33m in length, 1.5m wideand ~3.5m high, located in N 38Ú 372 52.83 , E68Ú 542 32.73 . Trench 2 in downstream of trench1, with 15m in length, 1.5m wide and ~3.5m high, islocated in N 38Ú 372 49.83 , E 68Ú 542 31.53 . Sixand three units observed in the eastern wall of thetrench 1 and 2 where the trenches dug in cream tolight brown loess deposits respectively.

Our field observation and drown logs on the trench1 and 2 allow us to interpret 2-3 paleo earthquakesdue to reactivity of an active fault on this studiedarea.

11922 - 24 January, 2011


Keywords: Paleoseismology, Trench, event,Dushanbeh, Tajikistan

S16_IGCP-C10

Archaeoseismological approach based on stoneheritages in Gyeongju, SE Korea

M. Lee and Y.-S. Kim* (E-mail:[email protected].)(Dept. of Geosciences,Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737,Korea)

The Korean peninsula is located within therelatively safe Eurasian intracontinental region.However, in some neighbouring countries aroundKorea such as Japan and China, big earthquakeshave occurred frequently. However, according to theKorean historical records, some big seismic eventsaffected Korea peninsula. Furthermore, over 20quaternary faults are recently discovered along theYangsan and Ulsan faults located in south-easternpart of Korea.

Gyeongju, which is located between these faults, isrepresented as an oldest capital city in Korea.Therefore, there are many cultural heritages andhistorical records to study on. According to thehistorical records, the Gyeongju area has experiencedseveral big earthquakes, which have resulted inextensive damages to the heritages. Deformed man-made structures with recognized age and originalstate can offer supplementary information on pastearthquakes.

For this study, we will apply the EarthquakeArchaeological Effects (EAE) - ESI07 macroseismicscale - and statistic analysis on destroyed stoneheritages such as pagodas and ramparts. In addition,we will collect historical and instrumental earthquakedata to figure out the characteristics of the pastseismic activity in Korea. This study can give someuseful information to paleoseismic and earthquakehazard studies in Korea.

S16_IGCP-C11

Discover and the Characteristic Initially Searchof Gaixia Ruins’s Nature Distortion Vestige,Guzhen County, Anhui Province, P.R.China1

YAO Da-quan(Seismological Administration ofAnhui Province, Hefei,Anhui P.R.China,230031,E-mail : [email protected])

During recent years, with the large-scale economicconstruction in Eastern China, such as highway, high-speed railway and other major projects underconstruction have excavated a large number ofancient sites, ancient tombs, which make it possibleto identify and trace for thousands of years of naturaldeformation history in Eastern China.

Recently, the earthquake department with the culturalrelic archaeology department cooperation, to conductthe special excavation research to Anhui GuzhenGaixia ruins archaeology scene, the fault and thecrack are discovered .The preliminary study todemonstrate both for the different time stratumdislocation event’s vestige, and the timeapproximately to be equal to the Dawenkou culturestage.

The fault and crack located in the same culture layer,displaying tension deformation, which occurred inthe culture layer of the plastic clay soil, should bethe fast fracture remains, and in particular, themovement traces of the upwards flow of sand alongthe crack as the flame appearance, shows a typicalstick-slip mark. According to the combination of thecultural relic pieces of the culture layer, this culturelayer belongs to the Late Dawenkou Dynasty. Butthey still show difference: The fault is a tensile shear,showing tension shear fracture; the crack is tensile,showing tension cracks; They ended in the bottomof the different overlaying cultural layers. The timeof the crack formed was earlier, and may representtwice stick-slip events. The specific time is to beproven by further study. To analyze theseismogeology environment of the vestige, thelocation lies on Tancheng-Lujiang fault in NNEtrending. According to the history records, severalearthquakes of Ms6 occurred near this area. Ourdiscovery of this earthquake ruins enriches the newdeformation activity in this area.4 This paper is a contribution to Scientific ResearchSpecial Project of the Earthquake Calling(200808064) and Science and Technology TackleKey Problem Plan Project of Anhui Province(08010302204)


120 22 - 24 January, 2011

S16_IGCP-C12

Paleo-earthquake evidence from archaeologicalsite in mesoseismal zone of 1819 Allah Bundevent, Great Rann of Kachchh, Gujarat,Western India

Malik J N1, Gadhavi M S3, Ansari K.1Dikshit O1, Chiranjeeb Banerjee1, FalguniBhattacharjee2, A. K. Singhvi4 and B. K.Rastogi2 (1Department of Civil Engineering,Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Email:[email protected], 2Institute of SeismologicalResearch, Gandhinagar, 3L. D. College ofEngineering, Ahmedabad, 4Physical ResearchLaboratory, Ahmedabad)

The Kachchh region in seismic zone V is not onlywell known for the occurrence of large magnitudeearthquakes occurred in 1668 (M7); 1819(M7.7±0.2), 1956 (Ms6.1), and 2001 (Mw7.6), butalso for having major Harappan (4000-4500 year)and historical sites. One of such major sites wasDholavira located on Khadir Island. Few sites inGreat Rann of Kachchh (GRK), probably flourisheduntil 1819 Allah Bund earthquake (?). Till date it isnot fully understood as whether these sites wereaffected by the major seismic events in the past andalso the presently evolved landscape was influencedby tectonic movements. The geologists,archaeologists, and scholars of ancient Indian history

have mentioned the existence of numerous mightysouthwest flowing rivers viz. the Sindhu (Indus),Shatadru or Nara (Sutlej) and Sarasvati, during Pre-Vedic and Vedic times (~4000 yr). These riversflowed into then existing Arabian Sea, presently theGRK.

We excavated 6-8 trenches in Allah Bund regionGRK. Study reveals occurrence of at least 3 majorevents during recent past, which were probablyresponsible for the disruption of major channels (?),changing the landscape and destruction of thesettlements. Trenches on the hanging wall of ABFshows thick massive yellowish medium-fine sandoverlain by 1-1.5 m thick laminated sequence of silty-sand and clay. This suggests change in depositionalenvironment from fluvial to fluvial-marine or tidalenvironment (high sea-level during 4000-6000 yr?).Trench at Vigukot revealed prominent sand-sheetsat three levels indicative of 3 major liquefactionevents, triggered by near source earthquakes, thelatest event probably be the 1819 Allah Bund.

Preliminary OSL ages of the sediments dated fromthe sand blow, soft sediment deformationalstructures, faulted sedimentary units from thetrenches excavated on the hanging wall and acrossthe Allah Bund Fault suggests occurrence of at least2-3 events during 2.0-3.0 ka, with the most recentevent during 2.0 ka.

the 2001 bhuj earthquake and advances in …...the 2001 bhuj earthquake and advances in earthquake...

Documents