Speaker
Dr
Diethelm Kaiser
(Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR))
Description
Reliable seismic hazard analysis is based on good quality data and models of the distribution of earthquakes in terms of time, space and size and the underlying processes that can explain this distribution. To improve the basis in Germany present work coordinated by BGR focuses on the earthquake catalogue, the paleoseismological database, the database of active faults and a seismotectonic source zonation.
The earthquake database "GERSEIS" contains approximately 50,000 seismic events (ML > 2 or felt) with instrumentally and macroseismological derived parameters from the year 800 until today. We started to re-evaluate important, damaging historical earthquakes, to build a macroseismic database, and to determine moment magnitudes from instrumental and macroseismic data.
The recently established database of paleoseismic evidences in Central Europe "PalSeisDB" documents the records of paleoseismic evidence (49 trenches, 107 soft-sediment deformation, 47 mass movements and 19 other paleoseismological evidences). Currently this database is extended by investigating soft sediment deformation in Northern Germany as possible indications of seismic events in the Quarternary.
We started compiling a database of active faults and seismogenic structures in Central Europe. Current neotectonic evidence will be compiled on the basis of geological, seismic, seismological, geomorphological and remote sensing studies.
To develop a new seismotectonic source zonation, we are collecting relevant geoscientific data and publications. We are developing a concept for the derivation of seismotectonic source zones taking into account the geological development, the neotectonic situation and geophysical data characterizing the seismogenic zones in the crust.
Primary author
Dr
Diethelm Kaiser
(Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR))
