USGS Projects in Afghanistan

USGS Projects in Afghanistan

  
Hazards

Assessing the Seismic Hazards of Afghanistan

Interactive MapThe nation of Afghanistan is gradually recovering and rebuilding from decades of strife, hardship, and isolation from the international community. As the country's infrastructure is being rebuilt and modernized and as its natural resources are being developed, critical facilities and major construction projects need to be located and designed in such a way as to minimize the potential adverse effects of natural hazards.

Afghanistan is situated in a geologically active region where there is an ever-present threat of strong earthquakes. Historically, the strong shaking associated with earthquakes has caused damage in many parts of the country. Earthquake shaking can also trigger destructive landslides, especially in mountainous terrain, and produce other damaging earthquake effects such as liquefaction and ground subsidence.

To better understand Afghanistan's seismic hazards, the USGS is engaged in a multi-stage process to collect data and information that will allow researchers to create seismic hazard maps for the country. These maps will provide government officials, engineers, and planners with crucial information about the level of seismic risk in various parts of the country and thus allow for the proper design and construction of critical facilities that can withstand anticipated levels of ground shaking.

In order to develop accurate seismic hazard maps, the USGS is assembling information on the location, size, and frequency of past earthquakes and the locations of potentially active faults. These data will then be used to create maps that show the probable strength of ground motion at specific localities and nationwide. The level of ground motion will be represented as a percentage of the acceleration due to the force of gravity (% g), which is a parameter that engineers can use as a guide in designing structures such as hospitals, dams, pipelines, power transmission lines, and other essential elements of the countrys infrastructure. Proper design of such facilities and structures will save lives and will help insure that Afghanistan's infrastructure is durable enough to survive the impact of major earthquakes.



News Release

  USGS Unveils How Earthquakes Pose Risks to Afghanistan 5/30/2007


Project Subtasks

Project Partners

    Afghanistan Geological Survey
    Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Industries

Links

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

USTDA USAID U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://afghanistan.cr.usgs.gov/hazards.php
Page Contact Information: Afghanistan Feedback/Questions