Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment of Tribal District Headquarter Dantewara of Chhattisgarh State (India)

Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District is situated in the State of Chhattisgarh in Indian. The district is part of Bastar Division. Until 1998, the Dantewara District was a tehsil of the larger Bastar District. Dantewara District has an area of 10,238.99 km2. It is bounded on the north and northeast by Bastar District, on the east by Malkangiri District of Orissa state, on the south and southwest by Khammam District of Andhra Pradesh state, and on the west by the Indravati River, which forms the boundary with Karimnagar District of Andhra Pradesh and Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. The district has a population of 719,065 (2001 census), of which 476,945 (66%) are tribal peoples. After declaration of district in Dantewara, the construction activities have suddenly increased. So it is essential to pay attention towards earthquake Disaster and its mitigation. Earthquakes are common phenomena which occur most often irrespective of time and place. They are most feared amongst all natural hazards as they strike suddenly without any prior indication and create devastation to life and property. They are not yet predictable; hence prior warning to people is not possible. Earthquakes are not killer by themselves but houses in which people reside kill them. During an earthquake poorly designed and built houses on weak foundation collapse and sometimes associated fire hazards kill the residents. India is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, with more than 60% of the land being prone to tremors of Richter Intensity 7.0 and greater, that can cause structural damage. Earthquakes continue to cause large-scale human fatalities, most of which are due to collapse of man-made structures. Recent earthquakes have revealed the under-preparedness of the country in facing its impacts. Since shortor mid-term prediction of earthquakes is difficult, seismic safety of built environments will ensure that, the structures do not collapse, this forms an important cornerstone of earthquake disaster mitigation efforts. Poor people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to disasters because of where they live. Research shows that they are more likely to occupy dangerous locations, such as flood plains, river banks, steep slopes, reclaimed land and highly populated settlements of flimsy shanty homes. To evaluate the seismic hazards for a particular site or region, all possible sources of seismic activity must be identified and their potential for generating future strong ground motion needs to be evaluated. Identification of seismic sources requires some detective work, nature’s clues, some of which are obvious and others quite obscure, must be observed and interpreted. Seismic Hazard Analysis involves the quantitative estimation of ground-shaking hazards at a particular site. In the present study Seismic Hazard Analysis (SHA) has been used to assess Peak Ground Acceleration for District Headquarter Dantewara (18o 54’ N81o 21’ E) of Chhattisgarh state. Volume 4 Issue 1 2018