Assessing seismicity in Bangladesh: an application of Guttenberg-Richter relationship and spectral analysis

Abstract

Bangladesh has a high risk of earthquakes because the Dauki, Jamuna, and Chittagong-Myanmar faults are still active. However, the assessment of seismicity remains a big challenge due to the complex geologic setting of Bangladesh. This study employed the Guttenberg-Richter relationship and the spectral models to assess and analyze the earthquake conditions in Bangladesh. Besides, an instrumental earthquake catalogue, obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), covering 1985–2017, is established. The results revealed that the Guttenberg-Richter constants of a and b were 2.981 and 0.392, which propagated a strain release from 1992 to 2017. The spectral model analyses, e.g. wavelet transform (WT), short-time Fourier transformation (STFT), and multitaper model (MTM), demonstrated the magnitude and strain release anomalies of the same magnitude ranging from 4.8 to 5.7, indicating the probable precursor of an upcoming earthquake. Notably, magnitudes have been running around 4.5–5.8, which may act as a signal to major earthquakes that have not been evident before. The proposed models allowed for the completion of the Bangladesh earthquake catalogue and provided a platform for future seismicity assessment and earthquake probability analysis. These results should be considered in determining how likely earthquakes are to happen in an area or region.