A practical and versatile feedback seismograph station has been constructed. Using feedback techniques developed by R.D. Meldrum, the relative low frequency response and the damping ratio of a Willmore Mk. I seismometer have been significantly increased for use in a broadband, low frequency bandpass seismograph station. Within limits imposed by a very high ambient ground noise level at the University of British Columbia site, circuit noise and instrument amplifier characteristics, it is possible to vary the damping ratio and resonant period through modification of the feedback loop transfer function. The seismograph has been continuously operating since November 1965 and has recorded over 40 local tremors and distant earthquakes from as far away as the mid Indian Ocean. It has shown that it is a useful demonstration and research instrument. A pilot analysis of the Long Shot nuclear explosion data received by the Canadian seismic stations indicates a consistent compressional first arrival as expected from an impulsive explosion source. Significant travel time discrepancies are observed in the commencement of the P arrival which arrived up to 6 seconds early at all stations with the largest residuals at the most distant sites. A comparison earthquake in the Rat Islands area indicates a similar bias trend. The P arrival amplitudes appear to be anomalously low in the central B.C. area and high in eastern Canada. The effect is also evident in the unified magnitude determinations which are based on these amplitudes. The causes of the variations of magnitudes and the anomalously low amplitudes have not been explained. The average magnitude and standard deviation for all Canadian stations is shown to be 6.01 ±0.40 which agrees well with the world-wide average determination of 5.99 ± 0.52. Spectral investigations demonstrate that there are both common and individual characteristics among the ground amplitude spectra of the different stations. These characteristics have not been correlated to the explosion source mechanism or to geological structure although some causative suggestions have been made. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Seismic slope stability is often evaluated via permanent displacement analyses, which quantify the cumulative, downslope displacement of a sliding mass subjected to earthquake loading. Seismic sliding block displacements provide a useful index as to the seismic performance of a slope. Seismic sliding block displacements can be computed for a suite of acceleration-time histories selected to fit a design event. This thesis explores the effect of ground motion selection on computed seismic sliding block displacements through two approaches. First, rigid sliding block displacements were computed for ground motion suites developed to fit uniform hazard spectra (UHS), conditional mean spectra (CMS), and conditional probability distributions for peak ground velocity (PGV) and Arias Intensity (Ia). Evaluation of the suites in terms of their PGV and Ia distributions provided useful insight into the relative displacements computed for the suites. The PGV and Ia distributions of the suite selected to fit the UHS exceed the theoretical distributions of these ground motion parameters. In fact, the scaled Ia values of motions in the UHS suite are greater than the largest Ia values in the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) ground motion database. As such, the displacements computed for the UHS suite exceed the displacements computed for any other suite. If only two ground motion parameters are to be considered in ground motion selection we recommend those parameters be PGA and PGV. However, it is important to consider PGA, PGV, and Ia when developing ground motion suites for permanent displacement analyses. Next, the use of simulated ground motions for permanent displacement analyses was addressed by comparing displacements computed for simulated ground motions to displacements computed for the corresponding recorded ground motion. Simulated ground motions generated via four seismological models were considered: the deterministic Composite Source Model (CSM), the stochastic model EXSIM, the deterministic-stochastic hybrid model by Graves and Pitarka (GP), and the deterministic-stochastic hybrid model developed at San Deigo State University (SDSU). The displacements computed for the SDSU simulations were the most similar to those computed using the recorded motions, with the average displacement of the SDSU simulations exceeding that of the corresponding recorded ground motion by about 6%. Additionally, the displacements from the SDSU simulations provided the smallest variability about the displacements computed for the recorded motions. / text

This work deals with two main fields: a) The design, built, installation, test, evaluation, deployment and maintenance of Seismological Network of Crete (SNC) of the Laboratory of Geophysics and Seismology (LGS) at Technological Educational Institute (TEI) at Chania. b) The use of Wavelet Transform (WT) in several applications during the operation of the aforementioned network. SNC began its operation in 2003. It is designed and built in order to provide denser network coverage, real time data transmission to CRC, real time telemetry, use of wired ADSL lines and dedicated private satellite links, real time data processing and estimation of source parameters as well as rapid dissemination of results. All the above are implemented using commercial hardware and software which is modified and where is necessary, author designs and deploy additional software modules. Up to now (July 2008) SNC has recorded 5500 identified events (around 970 more than those reported by national bulletin the same period) and its seismic catalogue is complete for magnitudes over 3.2, instead national catalogue which was complete for magnitudes over 3.7 before the operation of SNC. During its operation, several applications at SNC used WT as a signal processing tool. These applications benefited from the adaptation of WT to non-stationary signals such as the seismic signals. These applications are: HVSR method. WT used to reveal undetectable non-stationarities in order to eliminate errors in site’s fundamental frequency estimation. Denoising. Several wavelet denoising schemes compared with the widely used in seismology band-pass filtering in order to prove the superiority of wavelet denoising and to choose the most appropriate scheme for different signal to noise ratios of seismograms. EEWS. WT used for producing magnitude prediction equations and epicentral estimations from the first 5 secs of P wave arrival. As an alternative analysis tool for detection of significant indicators in temporal patterns of seismicity. Multiresolution wavelet analysis of seismicity used to estimate (in a several years time period) the time where the maximum emitted earthquake energy was observed.

Kατά τις τελευταίες δύο δεκαετίες θεωρείται ότι υπάρχουν ενδείξεις πιθανού συσχετισμού των μεταβολών του εκλυόμενου ραδονίου στο έδαφος και της σεισμικής δραστηριότητας. Παρότι στην Ελλάδα εκδηλώνεται το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της σεισμικής δραστηριότητας της Ευρώπης, δεν έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί συστηματικές έρευνες έως τώρα. Η περιοχή της διατριβής καλύπτει την ανάγκη ανάλυσης της έκλυσης ραδονίου από περιβαλλοντικές παραμέτρους και τη σεισμικότητα. Το πείραμα χωροθετήθηκε στην περιοχή του Κορινθιακού κόλπου λόγω του ότι: 1) παρουσιάζεται υψηλή σεισμικότητα, η σεισμικότητα σε αυτή την περιοχή δε είναι εντοπισμένη σε ένα συγκεκριμένο τμήμα της, αλλά χαρακτηρίζει την ευρύτερη περιοχή. 2) Στην περιοχή εκδηλώνονται συχνά σεισμικά γεγονότα όλων των μεγεθών, σχετιζόμενα με τη σεισμικότητα της ίδιας της περιοχής, αλλά και λόγω διέγερσης σεισμικών ρηγμάτων στην εγγύς περιοχή (π.χ. σεισμοί Αλκυονίδων 1981 και σεισμοί Αθήνας 1999). 3) Η ύπαρξη στην περιοχή ενός μεγάλου αριθμού ρηγμάτων, τα οποία έχουν σαφή επιφανειακή έκφραση. Η ύπαρξη ρηγμάτων με σαφή επιφανειακή έκφραση δίνει επιπλέον τη δυνατότητα μέτρησης της ροής ραδονίου μέσα από ένα ρήγμα. 4) Στην περιοχή μελέτης υπάρχουν καλής ακρίβειας σεισμολογικά και μετεωρολογικά δεδομένα, έτσι ώστε να μπορεί να συσχετισθεί η επίπτωση των μετεωρολογικών αλλαγών με τις μετρήσεις ραδονίου. Η συγκεκριμένη περιοχή δε χαρακτηρίζεται από βίαιες μετεωρολογικές μεταβολές, οι οποίες επηρεάζουν την έκλυση του ραδονίου. / Over the last decades evidence for correlation between radon emission and earthquake activity suggests that monitoring of radon in soil gas can be used as a method to predict future earthquakes. However, although the method is promising for earthquake prediction and most of the seismic activity in Europe is released in Greece, no systematic experiments were conducted so far. In this study we present preliminary results of a two years experiment through the monitoring of eight sites in the Megara basin. In each site, soil radon exhalation was monitored in shallow boreholes (80 cm deep), using CR39 films, which were exposed every 15-day. The Megara basin was selected as a study area for the following reasons: (a) the basin is actively deformed and most of this deformation is accommodated by strong historic earthquakes. The most recent of these events are the 1981 Corinth earthquake sequence. (b) Within the basin large faults have spectacular outcrops, and or still preserve seismic ruptures. Thus the tectonic setting of the monitoring sites is well known in its tectonic position. (c) The entire experiment is set up quite close to Athens, thus earthquake epicenters are calculated fairly well and detailed meteorological data are also available. The experiment includes a series of monitoring sites distributed from Megara town to the coast of the Alkyonides bay, that it well known as the epicenter of the 1981 Corinth earthquakes. In essence the coastal area of the Gulf is rather the surface expression of the South Alkyonides Fault zone. Surface displacement along this fault during the 1981 event reached up to 1 m north side down. Based on these monitoring sites, we present the first results regarding the background soil radon concentration in the Megara basin as well as radon exhalation through a fault. Specifically, we present data of radon exhalation through a still preserved co-seismic rupture, 20 north of the rupture on the hanging wall block and 200 m south of the rupture within the footwall block of the South Alkyonides Fault zone.

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La sismicité présente le long du méga-chevauchement himalayen, dans la trace du fort séisme de 1505, des variations spatiales qui restaient peu résolues. Nous y avons déployé un réseau sismologique temporaire de 15 stations pour la période 2014-2016, en complément du réseau national. Nous avons effectué une détection automatique Seiscomp3 puis un pointé manuel des séismes enregistrés par le réseau, suivi par une localisation absolue Hypo71 et une relocalisation relative d’essaims HypoDD. Le catalogue résultant compte 2154 évènements dans notre zone d’étude dont les profondeurs (8-16 km) sont bien résolues. La confrontation de la sismicité avec des coupes géologiques équilibrées montre que les séismes se localisent dans le compartiment supérieur à proximité du grand chevauchement himalayen au voisinage de rampes ou contacts suspectés entre écailles de moyen pays. Les variations latérales de structures associées à cette sismicité sont susceptibles de contrôler pour partie les ruptures cosismiques de séismes intermédiaires, qui viennent rompre partiellement le chevauchement, comme l’ont démontré les études du séisme de Mw7.8 de Gorkha-Népal, 2015. La segmentation qui en résulte est une donnée importante dans les études d’aléa sismique. / The seismicity located along the Himalayan mega-thrust, within the trace of the great M8+ 1505AD earthquake, displays striking spatial variations which remained poorly resolved. In order to better constrain and understand these variations, we deployed a 15-stations temporary seismological network for 2 years (2014-2016) as a complement to the national network. We first processed the data with an automatic detection with Seiscomp3, then a manual picking of earthquakes recorded by the network, followed by a Hypo71 absolute localization and HypoDD relative relocation of clustered events. The resulting catalogue contains 2154 local events, shallow to midcrustal (8 - 16 km). The seismicity presented temporal variations suggesting fluid migrations. The confrontation between the seismicity and the geologic balanced cross-sections shows that most eartbquakes happen within the hangingwall of the Main Himalayan Thrust fault nearby ramps or suspected contacts between lesser Himalayan slivers. The lateral variations of some of the structures associated to this seismicity are likely to partially control the extent of the coseismic ruptures during intermediate earthquakes that break partly the locked fault zone, in a similar way as what was reported after the Mw7.8 2015 Gorkha-Nepal earthquake. Better characterizing the segmentation of such faults is an important input for seismic hazard studies.

Selecting the design ground motion parameters for future earthquakes is a challenging task in earthquake engineering. The intensity of ground shaking depends on the physics of the earthquake process, the seismic wave characteristics, damping and density of the elastic medium. The important parameters commonly used in engineering application are Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and response spectrum. This thesis addresses the question of how the above parameters can be rationally estimated for a very highly Seismic zone like North Eastern Region of India (NERI). A detailed literature review and necessity of engineering seismic hazard estimation for NERI is presented in Chapter 1.The geological and seismotectonic setup of NERI has been described. The seismic status of NERI has also been discussed in this chapter. In Chapter 2, three region specific seismological model parameters namely stress drop, quality factor and soil (kappa factor) parameters are estimated. These earthquake model parameters represent the source, path and site parameters respectively. Reliable estimates of these parameters for NERI have been presented here for the first time. The model parameters are computed for this region from time histories of past earthquake records. These parameters are used in developing reliable ground motion attenuation relation for NERI. In chapter 3, the thesis proposes a new attenuation relation for ground motion at the bedrock level for NERI. This region has very few recorded strong motion data though it has experienced more than 2000 earthquakes in the past 600 years. Attenuation relations for PGA and 5% damping Spectral acceleration(Sa) have been developed for NERI by stochastic simulation of ground motion based on the seismological model of Boore (1983, 2003). Seismological model parameters namely stress drop, quality factor and kappa factor calculated in chapter 2 are used in simulation of ground motion samples. Twenty thousand ground motion samples are simulated for different range of magnitudes and hypocentral distances. These simulated ground motion samples are used to derive attenuation relation using two stage regression analyses. The developed regional attenuation relation is validated with available recorded data. In chapter 4, the attenuation relation developed in the previous chapter is utilized to carry out Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) for two important cities in NERI. Seismic hazard for 100, 500 and 2500 year return period for Guwahati and Shillong cities has been calculated considering all the seismotectonic sources within 300 'km radius around these two cities. Limited PSHA results are presented for eight important cities namely Aizawl, Agartala, Silchar, Karimganj, Jorhat, Itanagar, Kohima and Imphal of NERI corresponding to faults within the boundaries of India. Earthquake hazard microzonation maps at the bedrock level for a region of 200 km X 200 km centered around Guwahati city have been prepared in this chapter. In chapter 5, the results of chapter 3 and 4 are further used to compute city level hazard for Guwahati accounting for local site effects. For studying soil effects borehole data from 508 sites have been collected. Shear wave velocity has been estimated empirically. Based on this the city is divided in to four broad zones. PSHA has been carried out for the sites including the effect of soil layering. For routine design of structures, PGA and the response spectrum are sufficient. However, for very important structures such as bridges, dams and industrial plants ground motion histories are required in time domain. In chapter 6, the ground motion time histories for high magnitude earthquakes in NERI are simulated based on record of small events using Empirical Green's function (EGF) approach. Simulated ground motion samples valid for Assam Valley region, Shillong Plateau region and Eastern Himalayan region corresponding to magnitude Mw= 8.5 are presented. Similarly simulated ground motion records applicable for Arakan Yoma Belt region corresponding to magnitude Mw= 8.0 are presented. Also, simulated ground motion samples valid for Surma Valley region corresponding to magnitude Mw= 7.5 are presented. In the present study, simulated high magnitude strong motion records obtained by EGF approach have been compared with those obtained from the attenuation relation developed in chapter3. A summary of the work done in this thesis and a few suggestions for further research are presented in chapter 7. The data of past earthquakes used in this thesis for hazard analysis is presented in the Appendix.