ASSESSMENT OF SEISMIC HAZARD AND LOSSES FOR THE CITY OF TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN

The joint scientific project named “Assessment and Mitigation of Seismic Risk in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan” is realized in the framework of NATO Scientific Programme “Science for Peace”. This project has united within the framework of work the participants from four institutes: US Geological Survey (Golden, Colorado, USA); Institute of Mechanics and Seismic Stability of Structures (Tashkent, Uzbekistan); Institute of Seismic Researches of Bogazichi University (Istanbul, Turkey); and Institute of Seismology (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). The ultimate goal of this project is to assess and develop the scientific basis of earthquake Risk mitigation for Tashkent and Bishkek. The major objectives are as follows: assessment of seismic hazard on the cities territory; assessment of seismic losses from probable earthquakes; development of Strategies of seismic Risk Mitigation. One of the main tasks of this project is the performing of probabilistic seismic hazard maps. It should represent an expected level of seismic ground motion intensity in the city area and vicinity. To develop such maps the information about historical seismicity, faults, which can cause the earthquakes, about a depth and surface structure of earth crust in Tashkent region, regional attenuation laws with distance from a source were collected and analyzed. These maps are necessary for the development of detailed zonation maps of city territory, which will are taking into account the modern knowledge about the site conditions (a relief, structure of a surface layer, the soil types, the ground waters level, velocities of shear waves propagation). To make the buildings inventory map we have used a satellite image of city area.Overlapping seismic hazard map with a map of various type buildings distribution and the use of relationships connecting a damage level with intensity of ground shaking will give us the software in GIS a format for the assessment of seismic losses on the city territor