Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment of district headquarters of Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India

This study aims at characterising the probable 99 faults of region by carrying out the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for different districts of Kashmir valley by preparing seismic hazard curves and the contour maps of three ground motion parameters, namely, peak ground acceleration (PGA), short period Sa (0.02 s) and long period Sa (1.0 s) spectral acceleration for 50, 100, 500 and 2,500 years return periods using the Atkinson and Boore (2006) GMPM and an updated catalogue containing event records till April 2018. On comparison with the earlier studies it was found that there is the need to consider the local site variability in the hazard computation. Shopian, Budgam, Baramulla and Kupwara were found to have much higher seismic hazard levels as compare to other districts. The estimated hazard values for these regions highlights that the zonal spectral values are underestimated in the Indian Codal provisions. The maps, hazard curves and UHRS so developed can be used for assessing the seismic vulnerability of the existing structures and constructing risk maps for the selected areas.