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Kingston, Jamaica
Jamaica is a mountainous island in the north-central Caribbean Sea, situated between the deep waters of the Cayman Trough and the shallow shelf area known as the Nicaragua Rise. The rivers of Jamaica largely run southward and have created an expanse of Quaternary alluvial plains along the island's southern coast. Observations of the damage patterns of historic earthquakes over the past 325 years have linked the presence of these unconsolidated sediments to increased levels of ground shaking and devastation during strong and major earthquakes, and some areas have been known to liquefy. Thick sediment wedges together with the topography of the bedrock create basinal structures that cause focusing and interference of seismic waves, and result in severe amplification to varying degrees across the basin (Wiggins-Grandison et al., 2003, in press). Presently, close to 1,000,000 people or 35% of the Jamaican population reside on the Liguanea, St. Catherine and Vere Plains, on which the cities of Kingston (the capital) and Portmore, and the large towns of Spanish Town (the old capital) and May Pen, are located. In addition, these areas represent the commercial, industrial and economic lifelines of the country, with bauxite/alumina plants, most of the country's power generation facilities, major shipping ports, an international airport, a significant portion of the island's highway and railway infrastructure, sporting facilities and tertiary institutions. In present project it is proposed to study the city of Kingston with regard to microzoning by realistic modelling of surface waves.
Also read the pdf file at :
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...16376/PDFSTART
Jamaica is a mountainous island in the north-central Caribbean Sea, situated between the deep waters of the Cayman Trough and the shallow shelf area known as the Nicaragua Rise. The rivers of Jamaica largely run southward and have created an expanse of Quaternary alluvial plains along the island's southern coast. Observations of the damage patterns of historic earthquakes over the past 325 years have linked the presence of these unconsolidated sediments to increased levels of ground shaking and devastation during strong and major earthquakes, and some areas have been known to liquefy. Thick sediment wedges together with the topography of the bedrock create basinal structures that cause focusing and interference of seismic waves, and result in severe amplification to varying degrees across the basin (Wiggins-Grandison et al., 2003, in press). Presently, close to 1,000,000 people or 35% of the Jamaican population reside on the Liguanea, St. Catherine and Vere Plains, on which the cities of Kingston (the capital) and Portmore, and the large towns of Spanish Town (the old capital) and May Pen, are located. In addition, these areas represent the commercial, industrial and economic lifelines of the country, with bauxite/alumina plants, most of the country's power generation facilities, major shipping ports, an international airport, a significant portion of the island's highway and railway infrastructure, sporting facilities and tertiary institutions. In present project it is proposed to study the city of Kingston with regard to microzoning by realistic modelling of surface waves.
- National Disaster Research, Inc., The Earthquake Unit, UWI, Mines and Geology Division, Jamaica (1999). Kingston Metropolitan Area Seismic Hazard Assessment Final Report. Prepared for the US Agency for International Development/Organization of American States, Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project, Kingston Multihazard Assessment, 82 pp.
- Wiggins-Grandison, M.D., 2003, Simultaneous Inversion for 1-D Velocity Model of the Jamaican Crust, Local Earthquake Hypocenters and Station Corrections (submitted).
- Wiggins-Grandison, M.D. and Ojeda, A.C., 2003, Local Earthquake Tomography of Jamaica (submitted).
Also read the pdf file at :
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...16376/PDFSTART
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