Seismic hazard evaluation in Anjar city area of western India: Microtremor array measurement

• Microtremor array measurements at three types of damage scenario at Anjar, Gujarat, India.
• Damage scenarios were severely damaged, less damaged and undamaged.
• Significant differences are observed in shear wave velocity, frequencies and amplitudes.

In western India during the Bhuj earthquake (Mw 7.6) on January 26, 2001, the Anjar City at ~30 km southwest of Bhuj experienced three types of damage scenario: severely damaged, less damaged and non-damaged. Similar damage patterns were also observed for the 1819 (Mw 7.8) and the 1956 (Mw 6.0) earthquakes. Microtremor array measurements were conducted in and around the Anjar city to examine the strength of soil structures and damage pattern. Significant differences are observed in frequencies and amplitudes in horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) using microtremor measurements. The severely- damaged site shows two peak amplitudes: 2.8 at 1.2 Hz; and 4.0 at 8.0 Hz. The less-damaged site also shows two amplitudes: 2.5 and 2.1 at 1.4 Hz; and 2.0 Hz, respectively. The non-damaged site, on the other hand, shows that the HVSR curves become almost flatter. Similar results for three types of damage scenario based on analyses of earthquake records are also observed for the study area. The microtremor array measurements has revealed shear wave velocity Vs≥400 m/s at 18 m depth in the non-damaged, at 40 m in the less-damaged and at 60 m depth in the severely-damaged sites. The site amplitudes and the Vs values show a good correlation with the soil characteristics and damage pattern, suggesting that strength of soil layers at varying depths is a dictating factor for the estimate of the earthquake risk evaluation of the area under study.