Workshop on seismic hazard assessment
MUSCAT — The Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) organised a workshop yesterday on “Seismic Hazard Assessment for Oman” under the auspices of Dr Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice-chancellor of the University.
The event is part of a comprehensive seismic hazard assessment project for Oman led by the Earthquake Monitoring Centre. This national strategic project, sponsored by the government of the Sultanate of Oman, is supported by international institutions like Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University in Turkey, and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
In his opening speech, Prof Khalifa al Jabri from the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at SQU, said the unique location of Oman on the southeast corner of the Arabian Plate makes it susceptible to earthquakes over the years. “For many years, the authorities in the Sultanate have realised the importance of monitoring seismic activities in Oman and its neighbouring areas in order to set out rules, regulations and emergency plans in case major earthquakes may occur in future. Safety of people and properties in the country should be ensured by civil engineers and planners by designing safe and robust structures that resist earthquakes”, Prof Al Jabri added.
The seismic hazard assessment project for Oman is divided into four phases: development of probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard maps for Oman; seismic microzonation and site effects for Muscat; development of shake and risk maps for Muscat; and development of earthquake design provisions for buildings in Oman. The outcomes and results of the first two phases and the fourth phase were discussed in detail in the workshop. It is anticipated that the project will be completed by the end of this year. Al Jabri revealed that an international conference will be organised towards the conclusion of this project to discuss the final results of it.
The outcomes of this project will be useful not only to those dealing with seismic hazard assessment and loss estimation such as structural engineers, designers, geophysicists but also to other administrators in the country such as traffic planners, emergency response teams, utility departments and land use planners.
He hoped that this project will provide the authorities concerned with a better understanding of the seismicity of the region and the ways to mitigate the effects of earthquakes that might occur in future.
In his address, Prof Nafi Toksoz, Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, USA, congratulated the seismic hazard assessment team of Oman for efficiently planning and executing the project.