First level seismic microzonation map of Chennai city - a GIS approach

Chennai city is the fourth largest metropolis in India, is the focus of economic, social and cultural development and it is the capital of the State of Tamil Nadu. The city has a multi-dimensional growth in development of its infrastructures and population. The area of Chennai has experienced moderate earthquakes in the historical past. Also the Bureau of Indian Standard upgraded the seismic status of Chennai from Low Seismic Hazard (Zone II) to Moderate Seismic Hazard (Zone III)-(BIS: 1893 (2001)). In this connection, a first level seismic microzonation map of Chennai city has been produced with a GIS platform using the themes, viz, Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), Shear wave velocity at 3 m, Geology, Ground water fluctuation and bed rock depth. The near potential seismic sources were identified from the remote-sensing study and seismo-tectonic details from published literatures. The peak ground acceleration for these seismic sources were estimated based on the attenuation relationship and the maximum PGA for Chennai is 0.176 g. The groundwater fluctuation of the city varies from 0-4 m below ground level. The depth to bedrock configuration shows trough and ridges in the bedrock topography all over the city. The seismic microzonation analysis involved grid datasets (the discrete datasets from different themes were converted to grids) to compute the final seismic hazard grid through integration and weightage analysis of the source themes. The Chennai city has been classified into three broad zones, viz, High, Moderate and Low Seismic Hazard. The High seismic Hazard concentrated in a few places in the western central part of the city. The moderate hazard areas are oriented in NW-SE direction in the Western part. The southern and eastern part will have low seismic hazard. The result of the study may be used as first-hand information in selecting the appropriate earthquake resistant features in designing the forthcoming new buildings against seismic ground motion of the city.