Good practices in PSHA: declustering, b-value estimation, foreshocks and aftershocks inclusion; a case study in Italy

Abstract

The classical procedure of the Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) requires a Poissonian distribution of earthquakes. Seismic catalogs follow a Poisson distribution just after the application of a declustering algorithm that leaves only one earthquake for each seismic sequence (usually the stronger, i.e. the main shock). Removing earthquakes from the seismic catalogs leads to underestimation of the annual rates of the events and consequently associate with low seismic hazard as indicated by several studies. In this study, we aim investigating the performance of two declustering methods on the Italian instrumental catalog and the impact of declustering on estimation of the b-value and on the seismic hazard analysis. To this end, first the spatial variation in the seismicity rate was estimated from the declustered catalogs using the adaptive smoothed seismicity approach, considering small earthquakes (Mw≥3.0). We then corrected the seismicity rates using new approach that allows for counting all events in the complete seismic catalog by simply changing the magnitude frequency distribution. The impact of declustering on seismic hazard analysis is illustrated using PSHA maps in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral acceleration (SA) in 2 s, with 10% and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years, for Italy. We observed that the hazard calculated from the declustered catalogs was always lower than the hazard computed using the complete catalog. These results are in agreement with previous results obtained in different parts of the world.