Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment for Bridgetown-Barbados, Employing Subduction Interface Characteristic Earthquakes

A probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for Bridgetown, Barbados, reveals that the dominant earthquake scenarios for return periods of 475 and 975 years involve subduction interface earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from M 7.4 to M 8.6 at distances of approximately 42.5 km beneath the Barbados accretionary prism. Additionally, an event with a magnitude of M 8.0 at a distance of 107.5 km in the intraplate subduction zone is also significant for these return periods. The study employed the Cornell-McGuire approach, incorporating characteristic earthquakes and slip rates, along with a logic-tree framework to calculate uniform hazard spectra for various structural periods and return periods. This analysis provides critical insights into seismic risks for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison.

Walter Salazar, Lyndon Brown, & Garth Mannette. (2013). Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment for Bridgetown-Barbados, Employing Subduction Interface Characteristic Earthquakes. Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 7(11). https://doi.org/10.17265/1934-7359/2013.11.008