Categories
research updates

Workshop report – quaternary dating and hazards at CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France

A number of earthquake specialists assembled in Aix-en-Provence for a four-day workshop hosted at CEREGE. The workshop is one of the flagship activities within the framework of the NATO SPS Multi-year project ‘Geo-environmental security from earthquakes in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’. This project involves a consortium of researchers and specialists from Asia (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), from the USA, and from Europe (France, Germany, UK). We aim to develop the underpinning geological data that is required for building effective earthquake resilience, and to compile this data in open access formats that are accessible for researchers within the project focus area of central Asia. We combine that aim with the development of capacity through equipment purchases and through the training of early career researchers from both NATO and NATO partner countries.

Categories
research updates

New paper: Slip-Rate of the Main Kopeh Dagh Fault and active tectonics of the South Caspian

The South Caspian Basin (SCB) is an aseismic block that moves independently to its surroundings. Together with the Arabia-Eurasia collision, it controls the active tectonics of Turkmenistan. The directions, rates, and rotation poles of the SCB relative to Iran and Eurasia are not well resolved. In a new paper recently published in TECTONICS, we constrain the motion of the SCB by measuring the slip rate of the Main Kopeh Dagh Fault (MKDF) in Turkmenistan. Here’s what we found:

Categories
research updates

New paper on the seismic hazard in Almaty by Amey et al.

Our team has published a new paper on the seismic hazard in the Almaty region, Kazakhstan. We use high resolution satellite imagery to map faults around Almaty, Kazakhstan, and then use GEM’s OpenQuake to calculate shaking, damage and losses to the city from earthquake scenarios. Here’s what we found.

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research updates

The COMET Central Asia Fault Database: Progress Report

The COMET Central Asia Fault Database integrates decades of fault mapping and field-studies by researchers from the UK NERC Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET), and global collaborators.

Central Asia is home to one of the world’s great mountain ranges–the Tien Shan–which is formed by vigorous crustal convergence across a multitude of tectonic faults. Here we describe the motivation to assemble the database and the choices that we have made in its structure, which are based on utility, necessity, and limitations in available information. We are working towards a full public release of the dataset, so keep an eye out!

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webinar

Video: Talk by Ray Weldon on “How better geology can improve seismic hazard estimates in Kyrgyzstan”

On 22 Feb, 2021, Ray Weldon (University of Oregon) opened our public lecture series on the tectonics of Central Asia. More than 100 participants from all over the world tuned in. From now on, we will have a public lecture every two months. In case you missed Ray’s presentation, here’s the video.

Watch this space for future talks, always on the last Monday of every second month, and follow us on Twitter for updates: https://twitter.com/QuakesCentAsia

Categories
webinar

Online webinar by Ray Weldon & Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov on 22 Feb 2021: How better geology can improve seismic hazard estimates in Kyrgyzstan

In the framework of our NATO-funded project SPS G5690 – “Earthquake Hazard and Environmental Security in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan” we will run an ~1 hr online webinar. Ray Weldon from University of Oregon will talk about How better geology can improve seismic hazard estimates in Kyrgyzstan. The webinar is open for everyone interested and will be held via zoom (https://uni-jena-de.zoom.us/j/8941887790 Meeting-ID: 894 188 7790; Password: 820815).

Date: 22 February, 2021

Time: 3 pm GMT (3 pm London; 4 pm Berlin & Paris; 11 pm Beijing; 7 am San Francisco)