Deterministic seismic hazard assessment for the Makkah region, western Saudi Arabia.

Rapid social and industrial development of the Makkah and Jeddah regions emphasizes necessity of reassessment of seismic hazard, results of which are essential for aseismic design, emergency management, and insurance regulations. In this work, the deterministic seismic hazard studies are applied to evaluate level of seismic hazard for the Makkah region using the up-to-date geophysical, geological, and seismological database, and using different techniques. The assessment has been performed in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and presumably active faults are considered as sources of earthquakes. Results of the study show that, in the context of the used models of seismic sources, the level of seismic hazard in the region is controlled by magnitude of earthquakes that may occur at the intersection of NE-SW faults (the Ad Damm fault zone and the Wadi Fatima Shear Zone) and the NNW-oriented faults that run parallel to the Red Sea coast (Red Sea Margin Faults group). It is important to make accurate mapping of faults using up-to-date data and to estimate if the faults are active at present. Particular attention should be given to careful estimation of maximum magnitude of possible earthquakes that can occur along the active fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]