Active fault and seismic zonation in Thailand: An empirical compilation
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Abstract
Thailand has long been recognized as having a low seismicity, even though more than 4,300 small-to-moderate (Mw > 2.0) earthquakes have been detected within and nearby the country. Recent fault activity in Thailand is linked to extrusion tectonics caused by the India-Asia collision during mid-Tertiary time. The fault activity is mainly related to basin flanks in northern Thailand. In order to determine the relative seismic risk of the faults, we apply field, geomorphic, remote-sensing, geochronological, and seismic based evidence. This study concludes five seismically active belts (SABs) in Thailand: the Northern Shan-Thai SAB to the west-northwest, the Central Shan-Thai SAB in northern peninsular Thailand, the Southern Shan-Thai SAB in southern peninsular Thailand, the Lampang-Chiang Rai SAB in the north and the Nakhon Thai SAB in eastern-northeastern Thailand.
Most of the faults in the Central Shan-Thai, Southern Shan-Thai, and Northeastern SABs are inferred as probably and possibly active faults. Many of the faults within the Northern Shan-Thai and Central Shan-Thai SABs are regarded as active faults. Exceptions are the Mae Tha, Nam Pat and Pha Yao faults in northern Thailand. They are ranked as possibly active faults due to their subdued morphology and eroded scarps. We estimate that many of the active faults in Thailand had paleo-earthquakes with magnitudes between 6 and 7 on the Richter scale and have slip rates of between 0.5 and 2.2 mm/yr. Based on the geochronological data, we also estimate that the youngest slip is found in Mae Chan fault with an age of about 1,200 yrs. In this study, we present a new seismic zonation map of Thailand based upon ranking of and present-day seismicity.
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Copyright © 2008 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. Parts of an article can be photocopied or reproduced without prior written permission from the author(s), but due acknowledgments should be stated or cited accordingly.
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