Minimum norm inversion of observed ground elevation changes for slips on the causative fault during the 1905 Kangra earthquake

Abstract

We estimate the distribution of slip in the dip section of the causative fault for the 1905 Kangra earthquake by applying the minimum norm inversion technique to differences in pre- and post-earthquake levelling data collected along the Saharanpur-Dehradun-Mussoorie highway. For this purpose it is assumed that the causative fault of the 1905 Kangra earthquake was planar with a dip of 5° in the northeast direction and that it had a depth of 6 km at the southern limit of the Outer Himalaya in Dehradun region. The reliably estimated maximum slip on the fault is 7.5 m under the local northern limit of the Outer Himalaya. Using the inverted slip distribution we estimate that the maximum permanent horizontal and vertical displacements at the surface due to the Kangra earthquake were about 4 m and 1.5m respectively. The maximum transient displacements at the surface should have exceeded these permanent displacements. These estimates of maximum slip on the causative fault and the resultant maximum permanent and transient displacements at the surface during the Kangra earthquake may be taken tentatively as being representative of the great Himalayan earthquakes.