Seismotectonics of Armenia: main problems

Abstract

The article describes the main problems in the existing research on the seismotectonics of the territory of Armenia. A review was conducted on certain issues related to the accuracy of the initial seismological data, the problem of identifying possible focal zones of strong earthquakes, and the probabilistic assessment of the seismic hazard of the territory of Armenia. As the results of numerous studies show, the initial seismological data from catalogs and bulletins are characterized by their heterogeneity. Different observation systems and different methods of seismological data processing have led to the fact that when visualizing the spatial distribution of earthquake epicenters on the territory of Armenia, during the instrumental period of observations, an artificially lattice network of epicenters is obtained, which does not agree in any way with the fault tectonics of the territory. While studying the distribution of earthquake hypocenters by depth, the discrete nature of their distribution was revealed. There is also a number of disadvantages in the area of allocation of focal zones of strong earthquakes. The main part of the conducted research was primarily based on data from previously recorded strong seismic events, as well as on data on historical earthquakes. As a result, for the most part of the studied territory, in fact, no research was conducted. In addition, there are relevant questions about the tectonic basis used in these studies. The last group of problems concerns the probabilistic assessment of the seismic hazard of the territory of Armenia. It is shown that in the existing works there are quite a few unsubstantiated assumptions. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that in the field of seismotectonic studies of the territory of Armenia, there are a number of urgent tasks that require priority solutions.