Assessing the Seismic Hazards in Jamaica Incorporating Geodetic and Quaternary Fault Data

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Research Article| February 12, 2019 Assessing the Seismic Hazards in Jamaica Incorporating Geodetic and Quaternary Fault Data Ivan Wong; Ivan Wong aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Patricia Thomas; Patricia Thomas aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Rich Koehler; Rich Koehler bNevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, MacKay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street MS 178, Reno, Nevada 89557 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Nora Lewandowski Nora Lewandowski aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Ivan Wong aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Patricia Thomas aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Rich Koehler bNevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, MacKay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street MS 178, Reno, Nevada 89557 Nora Lewandowski aLettis Consultants International, Inc., 1981 North Broadway Suite 330, Walnut Creek, California 94596, wong@lettisci.com Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 12 Feb 2019 Online Issn: 1943-3573 Print Issn: 0037-1106 © Seismological Society of America Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2019) 109 (2): 716–731. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180205 Article history First Online: 12 Feb 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Ivan Wong, Patricia Thomas, Rich Koehler, Nora Lewandowski; Assessing the Seismic Hazards in Jamaica Incorporating Geodetic and Quaternary Fault Data. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2019;; 109 (2): 716–731. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180205 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of the Seismological Society of America Search Advanced Search Abstract Unlike most of the previous probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHAs), which relied almost solely on the historical earthquake record, we evaluated the seismic hazard in Jamaica incorporating the known Quaternary faults. Although only the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden (EPG) fault has been the subject of paleoseismic investigations, we estimated the fault‐slip rates and their uncertainties based largely on geodetic estimates. The faults included in our analysis are primarily the east–west–trending strike‐slip faults that accommodate most of the relative Caribbean–North America plate motion, including the EPG, Rio Minho–Crawle River, South Coast‐Aeolus Valley, Cavaliers, Duanvale, Walton, and Siloah fault zones. The Wagwater thrust was also included. There are other known principally reverse or thrust Quaternary faults on the Island that were not included in the PSHA whose hazard contributions are at least partially accounted for by including both a uniform seismic source zone and gridded seismicity approach. We calculated the probabilistic hazard at five cities and towns on the Island using the Next Generation Attenuation‐West2 (NGA‐West2) ground‐motion models. For a typical building code return period of 2475 yrs (International Building Code), the peak horizontal ground accelerations range from about 0.3g to more than 0.7g with the highest hazard at sites adjacent to the major strike‐slip faults, including the Kingston metropolitan area. Comparisons with previous studies that were based principally on historical seismicity indicate that these analyses underestimate the seismic hazard in Jamaica and suggest that even broad constraints on crustal fault‐slip rates improve hazard estimates for the Island. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.