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Macroseismic field observations of 18 September 2011 Sikkim earthquake

Author

Listed:
  • A. Mahajan
  • Vikram Gupta
  • V. Thakur

Abstract

A shallow-focus damaging earthquake of magnitude 6.9 Mw struck the Sikkim Himalaya, north-east India, on 18 September 2011 at 12:40:48 UTC (06:10:48PM IST). The epicentre was located north-west of Chungthang on Indo-Nepal border of Sikkim Himalaya. The earthquake was widely felt in northern India and caused widespread damage to poorly built and framed structures in Sikkim region, northern Bihar, eastern Nepal, southern Bhutan and part of Tibet adjoining Sikkim Himalaya. A lot of secondary effects in the form of landslides, rockfalls and landslide lake outburst flood were caused due to strong shaking effect of the earthquake. Maximum intensity IX according to the European Macroseismic Scale-98 was observed in the meizoseismal zone surrounding Chungthang village. Asymmetrical distribution and heterogeneous damage pattern demonstrate intensity attenuation characteristics of the region. Although the regional tectonic framework of Sikkim region indicates compressional thrust tectonics regime, according to CMT fault-plane solution this earthquake involved predominantly strike-slip motion on a steep fault. Unlike Nepal and north-west Himalaya where microseismicity and large earthquakes indicate thrust mechanism, this Sikkim earthquake suggests that strike-slip principal component may imply transcurrent deformation. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • A. Mahajan & Vikram Gupta & V. Thakur, 2012. "Macroseismic field observations of 18 September 2011 Sikkim earthquake," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(2), pages 589-603, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:63:y:2012:i:2:p:589-603
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-012-0170-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sankar Kumar Nath, 2004. "Seismic Hazard Mapping and Microzonation in the Sikkim Himalaya through GIS Integration of Site Effects and Strong Ground Motion Attributes," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 31(2), pages 319-342, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sanjay Prajapati & Ashok Kumar & Sumer Chopra & B. Bansal, 2013. "Intensity map of Mw 6.9 2011 Sikkim–Nepal border earthquake and its relationships with PGA: distance and magnitude," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 69(3), pages 1781-1801, December.

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